Viña Pukem

The winery

Viña Pukem was born in January 2020 in the rural district of Maquehue–Molco, west of the city of Padre Las Casas, on the lands of Mapuche communities in the Cautín Valley. It was founded by Juan Llanquinao Trabol, a Mapuche farmer who until then grew wheat, lupin, potatoes, peas and beans with his wife, and who joined an INDAP program to bring vines to small family farms in La Araucanía. He planted some 1,600 Pinot Noir vines on about half a hectare, with plants and irrigation supported by INDAP and technical guidance from the Universidad Católica de Temuco on pruning and harvesting. Some of those plants were lost in the first years, but the family carries on and wants to plant more; today the vineyard is worked by Juan, his wife and their daughter Tamara, who coordinates visits.

The house wine is Pukem Pinot Noir, which the family makes with spontaneous fermentation and yeasts from the site itself, and presents as an agroecological, natural wine. Its official launch was in May 2024: the first harvest had yielded just 59 bottles, and with that year's 1,500 kilos of grapes they filled 659 bottles at the vineyard and another 158 at the Universidad de La Frontera. It is a light red with soft tannins, aromas of cherry, raspberry and blueberry and notes of damp earth, boldo (a native aromatic shrub) and mushrooms; it is served between 14 and 18 °C and goes with cheeses, fish, seafood and prosciutto. In 2025 it received the Catad'Or World Wine Awards seal of approval, and in the winter of 2026 the family made its first rosé. Besides wine, the vineyard sells fruit, its Pinot Noir has been sold at the casino and at a liquor store in Temuco, and the family shows it at fairs such as the Fiesta de la Vendimia de Temuco.

Visits are arranged by Instagram or WhatsApp with Tamara Llanquinao. The winery offers guided tours of the vineyard and the winemaking process, with a tasting and designed mainly for groups, and prepares group lunches with a booking; on its social media it shows technical visits by farmers from the region and sommelier students. Now and then it opens special days: the Día del Vino in September 2026 combined the tour, a pruning workshop in the vineyard and a lunch of chicken cazuela (a hearty Chilean stew) with a glass of wine, for CLP 18,000 per person. There are no fixed hours or rates published, so write before you go; the arrival point is marked on Google Maps from the winery's Instagram profile.