Viña Las Pitras

The winery

Viña Las Pitras is the company of the Balbontín family, with more than 90 years in the viticulture of the Curicó Valley. Its third and fourth generations live in the estate's manor house, a colonial-style building some two centuries old, with verandas, a tiled roof and grounds, restored after the earthquake of February 2010. Beside it stands the large-scale winemaking cellar: the Ruta del Vino de Curicó credits it with a capacity of 4.5 million liters.

The winery has 129 hectares planted across three estates. Fundo Las Pitras, beside Ruta J-60 in Rauco, holds the oldest vineyards; Fundo San Luis, 2 km away, stands out for its Sauvignon Blanc; and Fundo El Carmen, in the Majadilla sector, near km 26 of the same road, climbs south-facing slopes of more than 30 degrees above the Mataquito River, on granitic soils with clay and decomposed rock, with a breeze that cools the grapes in the afternoon. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Syrah and Merlot grow there. The wines are sold under the Raíces de Majadilla brand, in Reserva and Gran Reserva versions and a Raíces Premium born on those slopes: in the 2018 vintage, a Cabernet Sauvignon with small shares of Carménère, Syrah and Petit Verdot, of which 5,400 bottles were made.

Visits require a booking confirmed by the winery and take place at two sites about 20 km apart. At the Rauco cellar, the Tour Bodega takes in the garden of grape varieties, the winery and its lookout, the courtyard of the manor house and the barrel room. In Majadilla, home to the wine shop in the old manor house of Fundo El Carmen, the Tour Majadilla sets off through the lower vineyard and along the river; the house also offers a Tour Premium with a walk to the lookout of the upper vineyard and a trek between vineyard and sclerophyllous forest, with a tasting at the end. Write to enoturismo@pitras.cl; tours with published prices are paid for at the winery. No restaurant or accommodation is listed on the estate: the Hotel Boutique Raíces that appears on the winery's website is in downtown Curicó and Google now marks it as closed. To buy wines there are the Majadilla shop and the email ventas@pitras.cl, since the online store linked from the website is unavailable.