La Despensa Boutique Winery

The winery

La Despensa Boutique is the project of Matt Ridgway, an Englishman from Dorset who came to South America in 2003 as a backpacker and English teacher and ended up, without ever planning it, planting vines in Santa Ana de Población, a rural area of Peralillo where several small wineries owned by people from different countries sit side by side. With his Chilean partner, Ana Cattan, who designed the accommodation and keeps the project in order, he has made wines in small lots since 2015: he started with a single barrel and today produces some 15,000 bottles a year, with exports to the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and other markets. Ridgway is self-taught and does almost all the work himself, in a style that favors fruit and freshness over oak.

The estate vineyard, farmed organically and run on solar power, is planted with Rhône varieties: Garnacha, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault, plus some Marselan and whites such as Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier. From it comes the Field Blend, inspired by the reds of the Côtes-du-Rhône, and blends such as the Pool Blend and the Field Blend Blanco. The range is completed by a Sangiovese, rare in Chile, that JancisRobinson.com chose as wine of the week in late 2025, a Cabernet Sauvignon from a friend's biodynamic vineyard in the Colchagua foothills at 750 m above sea level, and a País from vines over 120 years old in Pumanque which, because of labeling rules, the winery sells under the brand “Cold Shower Wines”. Several of these wines have received scores from Tim Atkin, Wine Advocate and Decanter.

The visit is simple and personal, at the owners' home and with their dogs as hosts: a tour of the vineyard and the winery, tasting straight from barrels and tanks, followed by a tasting of six wines with bread, olive oil and fresh local cheese. Visitors are received by advance booking only. In the same building as the winery are the Winery Studios, two 40 m² studios with an equipped kitchen and a shared pool, quincho (barbecue pavilion) and clay oven, for stays of at least two nights that include the tour, the tasting and a bottle of wine; adults only and no pets. The wines are sold in the online store with shipping throughout Chile.