Viña Lacre Rojo

The winery

Viña Lacre Rojo is a family project in Melozal, in the municipality of San Javier, born of the coming together of two families tied to the vine for more than a century, as the winery itself tells it. It presents its beginnings through Teodoro Villalobos and Carlos Muñoz, two winegrowers trained in family work among vines and casks. It is at km 19 of Ruta L-32, in the Loncomilla Valley, within the Maule Valley. It publishes neither its founding year nor the area of its vineyards. It is a member of the Ruta del Vino del Valle del Maule (the Maule Valley Wine Route) and took part in the first Fiesta del Vino de Loncomilla (Loncomilla Wine Festival), in 2022.

Its catalog is split into two lines. The traditional wines are a Merlot, a vegan Cabernet Franc, a white Torontel and an Ensamblaje (blend) of Carménère and Merlot from its own vineyard. The sweet wines are the other half of the offer: two Torontel Late Harvests, one of them vegan, a sweet Rosé and a red Asoleado (a wine from sun-dried grapes) of País. For the Late Harvest and the Asoleado, the winery selects old vines and lays the grapes out in the sun after harvest to concentrate their sugars. Its Merlot 2021 won a gold medal at the Catad'Or Wine Awards 2021, among the small family producers honored; the estate speaks of three gold medals at that competition, without saying which.

The visit is led by the owners themselves and is scheduled by WhatsApp, agreeing on the day with the winery. It lasts around two hours: it takes in the vineyards and the cellar, explains the winemaking and ends with a guided tasting with food pairing and the chance to buy the wines on the spot. The estate publishes neither the price nor the hours of the tour, so ask when you book. To buy from a distance, the online store lets you build a case of 12 bottles by mixing labels, since single bottles are not sold; shipping is free to Linares and Talca, and payable on delivery for the rest of the country.