Viña Luis Felipe Edwards

The winery

In 1976 Luis Felipe Edwards and his wife returned to Chile after several years living in Europe and bought the San José de Puquillay estate, in the Colchagua Valley: 60 hectares of vines, a small winery and an old country house, in a small horseshoe-shaped valley ringed by hills and open to the northwest. Through the 1980s the family added vineyards and sold its wine in bulk, until in the 1990s it decided to bottle under its own surname; the first bottles, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay, came out in the middle of that decade. Since the 2000s Luis Felipe Edwards Jr. has been general manager, and the senior positions remain in family hands. Today the winery has more than 2,000 hectares of its own in Colchagua, the Colchagua coast, Leyda and the Maule, ranks among the five largest in the country and exports to more than a hundred markets, yet it is still family-owned and family-run.

Puquillay is still the heart of the company. On the flat ground of the original estate, at about 220 m above sea level, there are vines planted as far back as 1937 and a long list of varieties, mostly red. On the surrounding hills, in the 2000s the family launched the LFE900 mountain vineyard project: some 140 hectares planted between 2005 and 2011, from 320 up to 900 meters above sea level, in blocks separated by native forest and on soils of granitic and volcanic origin, among the highest vineyards in Colchagua. From there come its top wines: Pater, a Cabernet Sauvignon created in tribute to the founder; Doña Bernarda, a blend led by Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère; LFE 900, with a Syrah-based Single Vineyard and a Malbec; and the Riscos de Puquillay Alto line. In Colchagua the winery also has a certified organic vineyard, the source of the Rosa Blanca line, and makes a Late Harvest from Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. All winemaking and bottling happens at Puquillay, with several specialized cellars, a temperature-controlled barrel room and lines that fill up to 35,000 bottles an hour. The head winemaker is Nicolás Bizzarri, the agricultural director Eugenio Cox, and the winery works with consultants Matt Thomson and Philippe Melka.

Luis Felipe Edwards currently has no visitor program open to the public: its official website publishes no tours, hours or booking channel, and although it is a member of the Ruta del Vino de Colchagua (the Colchagua wine route), the Ruta offers no experiences at this winery. The winery is in the Puquillay Alto area, in the municipality of Nancagua, at the foot of the hills, and you should ask before going; inquiries go through the contact email or the company's office in Santiago. Nor does the winery have its own online store: most of its production is exported, and the best way to get to know it is to look for its Puquillay Alto labels, such as Riscos, LFE 900, Doña Bernarda or Pater, which earn high scores in guides such as Descorchados and Tim Atkin's report.