Piuquenes Elqui

The winery

Piuquenes Elqui is the retirement project of Juan Luis Huerta and Helia Rojas, a couple who have spent their lives working the land high in the Elqui Valley: Juan Luis carried on with the fruit trees and vines his father left him and was a member of the local pisco cooperative from 1979, and both worked for more than a decade with Viñedos de Alcohuaz before going out on their own. Their first bottles reached the market in 2021. The property is in Horcón, a few minutes past Pisco Elqui and right beside the main road, at about 1,600 meters, between arid hills and a green ribbon of willows along the river. The name recalls the piuquén, the Andean goose with a white body and black-tipped wings that appears on the label.

Everything is done by hand and on a small scale, from picking to labeling. The grapes are grown organically, though without any declared certification, and ferment with native yeasts; aging takes place in steel vats and French oak barrels. The wines carry the Pajonal label: a semi-sweet white late harvest of Moscatel de Austria, Moscatel de Alejandría, Moscatel Rosada (Pastilla) and Pedro Jiménez, with aromas of huesillo (dried peach) and nuts; a red late harvest of País, Negra del Padre and Moscatel Rosada; a dry white Pedro Jiménez made for shellfish and fish; and a spirit from the same grapes as the white Pajonal, which the house groups among its fortified wines. They are sold in 375 and 500 ml bottles from CLP 9,000 and in mixed cases; orders are placed by WhatsApp, with shipping throughout Chile via Starken and deliveries in La Serena and Coquimbo twice a week.

The cellar door opens every day, Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 18:30 and Sunday until 18:00. The tasting the winery offers on TripAdvisor and Viator is hosted by the owners themselves: they tell the story of the project, show how the wines are bottled and labeled and finish with a tasting in the shop; depending on the time of year it may include a look inside the winemaking cellar. On the same property is Piuquenes Lodge, with cabins for four built of mud, straw, stone and poplar wood, each with its own kitchen and pool, plus a fire pit, a quincho (barbecue pavilion) and access to the river. There is no restaurant and the cabins do not include breakfast.