Kodkod

The winery

Kodkod is the family project of Paul Mc Rostie Bustamante, agronomist and winemaker, with grapes from Santa Rosa de Lavaderos, the farm his grandparents, Oscar Bustamante and Modesta Urcelay, bought around 1940. The estate lies in a small valley of the Coastal Range, in the municipality of Maule, on the north bank of the Maule River and near its confluence with the Loncomilla. It used to sell its grapes to large wineries, and the old vines stayed standing because the family decided not to pull them out, even if they were not the most profitable option. The name comes from the kodkod or huiña, a small wild cat that still lives in the forests along the river, and the drawing on the labels is by a girl in the family.

The declaration to the SAG (Chile's agricultural service) that the winery publishes records 7.5 hectares of head-trained, dry-farmed País and 1.8 hectares of trellised, irrigated Cabernet Sauvignon, both with 1900 as the planting year; the family describes them as older than that. They grow on gentle slopes of colluvial soils, about a kilometer from the river, and the País is plowed with a horse because the layout of the vines leaves no room for a tractor. The neighboring hills hold a native sclerophyllous forest that the family protects. The range is short and made in small numbers: an old-vine País (775 bottles in 2023), a País Joven with native yeasts (535 in 2024), a País rosé, the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Las Casas block and the Syrah from the El Cerro block (781 in 2023). The Descorchados 2024 guide placed the País 2023 among the best of the variety, with 93 points, and jancisrobinson.com gave 18/20 to the País 2020.

The winery publishes no visits or tourism programs, and mentions no restaurant or accommodation on the farm either: anyone wanting to see it should ask first, by WhatsApp or phone at +56 9 8284 1911 or by email at contacto@kodkodwine.com. The wines are sold in its online store and, according to the producer, in Santiago at Patagon Wines, La Cava del Barrio and La Vinoteca; in Talca, through Pola Wines and at the restaurant Ryoshi; and in Valparaíso, at the shop Maridaje. They also reach New York and Alberta, in Canada. Paul Mc Rostie also teaches at Mastering Wine, the family's WSET course school in Santiago.