Viña Encierra

The winery

Encierra is the project the Eyzaguirre Echenique family began in 2000 in the Cañetenes de Puquillay area, about two kilometers west of the town of Peralillo, in the Colchagua Valley. The family has a long history in the area: according to the account the winery publishes, Miguel Echenique Tagle and his son Gabriel planted French varieties in Colchagua in 1887, Fernando Echenique founded Viña Cañetenes de Puquillay in 1947, and in 1970 the Eyzaguirre and Echenique families brought Viña Los Vascos to life, which in 1988 partnered with Les Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite). At Encierra the first vineyards were planted in 2003, and the first vintage of Porel, its icon wine, is 2008. Today it is run by winemaker María Ignacia Eyzaguirre, with a team in which, as the winery itself tells it, two generations work side by side.

The wines come from the San Diego de Puquillay estate, where Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Syrah and Petit Verdot grow on soils of clay, volcanic material and metamorphic rock. The winery operates inside an early 20th-century building of traditional Chilean architecture and works with concrete vats, small stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels. Production is limited and organized into a few labels: Puquillay, an entry-level Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère; Encierra Rosé, made from Carménère; Encierra Carmenere; Vineyard Reserve, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Carménère and Petit Verdot; Textura, a Cabernet Franc; Porel, a blend of Carménère, Syrah and Petit Verdot; and Andrés, a fortified Syrah made for lingering at the table after the meal.

The winery opened to tourism in 2015 and today receives visitors every day by advance booking, from a one-hour tasting to a country lunch of about five hours for groups of 6 to 14 people. The tours pass through the vineyard, the winery, the barrel room and the family chapel, where the ashes of the project's founder rest, and end with a guided tasting accompanied by cheeses; under-18s taste grape juice instead. There is also a self-guided bike circuit among the vines, a picnic in the quincho (barbecue pavilion) that looks out over the valley from the top of the vineyard, and a half-day route combining Encierra with neighboring Viña La Sirca. Experiences are booked and paid for on the website or on Enoticket; the wine shop is open Monday to Sunday, and the winery also hosts private and corporate events.