Viña Buena Esperanza

The winery

The Llorente family arrived in 1980 at the old Hacienda Buena Esperanza, in the municipality of Vallenar, a property that started out as a cattle estate, with Moscatel and Pedro Jiménez vines and, later, olive trees. In 2017 Daniel Llorente and Mai-Nie Chang decided to make their own wine, moved by the Spanish custom of always having it on the table, and planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with the winemaker José Pablo Martin, a family friend with more than twenty years in the trade; the following year they added Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Syrah, Garnacha and Petit Verdot. The cellar occupies the estate's old machinery shed, fitted out with Italian stainless steel tanks, a concrete egg, French barrels and two temperature-controlled aging rooms. In 2024 the winery shipped to Sweden the first export of red and white wines from the Atacama Region.

The vineyard, of some 12 hectares, sits on a high alluvial terrace south of the Huasco River, less than 40 kilometers from the Pacific and 376 meters above sea level. Beneath a layer of calcareous clay with rounded stones, a stratum of calcium carbonate appears at about 60 centimeters; the climate brings intense light, mornings often clouded by the coastal influence, and no frosts. Harvest is by hand, in February for the whites and the Pinot Noir and between April and May for the reds, and the wines ferment with native yeasts. The range includes the Chardonnays Cerro Chehueque and Gran Reserva, the Pinot Noir Greta, the Pinot Noir rosé Hacienda Nicolasa, the Garnacha Hacienda Compañía, the Syrah Canto del Agua and the red blend Haciendas del Huasco. All the labels reproduce works by the Vallenar-born artist Aranxazu Llorente, a member of the family. The wines are sold in cases of six bottles in the winery's web store, with shipping throughout Chile.

Visits are booked by WhatsApp and take place in the morning: a guided tour of the vineyard, a descent into the soil pit to see the soil profile, a stop at the cellar and a tasting. There are three private formats, a classic one for groups of six or more, one with premium wines and another led by the founder, and the winery also schedules open-visit dates, announced on Instagram, which you can join alone or as a couple. Visits are for those over 18; bring comfortable clothes and sun protection. In 2025 Buena Esperanza was the Atacama regional winner at the Premios Enoturismo Chile, in the Human-Scale Wine Tourism category. There is no restaurant or accommodation at the winery.