Viña San Roke (Sanroke)

The winery

Sanroke is the Rozas family's shorthand for San Rosendo, the Biobío municipality where their vineyards lie, in the rural district of Los Callejones, about 10 km from the town, in a small valley shaped by the Biobío and Laja rivers. According to the winery, Andrés Rozas inherited the family vineyards in 1930 and for decades made pipeño, the young country wine of the south, which he kept in large casks inside adobe cellars; in 1980 his son José Luis began selling the wine in chuicas (large glass demijohns) under the Caprily brand. The 2010 earthquake took much of the infrastructure, and José Luis and his sons Cristian and Felipe decided to start over, this time bottling. In 2011 it emerged that the grape locals called "Burdeo" was actually Malbec, identified by the winemaker Juan Ledezma at the municipality's request, and in 2015 the first bottle under the Sanroke name reached the market.

The vineyard covers some six hectares on gentle slopes of clay soil rich in quartz. It is dry-farmed, without irrigation, and pruning and harvesting are done by hand. The family highlights its head-trained (bush-vine) Malbec, more than 150 years old, which it presents as the oldest in South America and attributes to plants that came with Jesuit missionaries by way of Rere; then come País, with vines it estimates at 200 to 300 years, Moscatel de Alejandría, at 100 to 120 years, and smaller amounts of Cinsault, Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. The old vines have been propagated in new trellised blocks, preserving their genetic material. From the Malbec come Burdeo Reserva, Santo Grial Gran Reserva, Santo Grial Premium and the 1860 Rere edition; from País, Viejo Riel and the sweet Tomasito; from Moscatel, the dry Mailen and the sweet Carmelita. Tricauco (Malbec and País), Jinete Negro (Cinsault), Agreste (Carignan), Katripache (Carménère) and a late-harvest rosé round out the list, and almost all the reds spend time in French oak barrels. In 2023 the winery obtained the APL clean-production seal.

The winery receives visitors by booking. The CataTour, two and a half hours long, covers about a kilometer of vineyard, enters the aging cellar and ends with a tasting of five wines with a snack board. For groups of ten or more there are the Tour Tradicional, with a welcome chupilca (a country drink of wine and toasted flour) and a traditional Chilean lunch, and the Tour Premium, which adds a farm breakfast and a tasting of six labels; both also visit the museum cellar, which according to Enoturismo Chile dates from 1820. Events and custom visits are quoted by WhatsApp. On the same farm is Sanroke Lodge, a dome with a view of the vineyard for two to four people, with a kitchen, hot tub and solar power. The wines are sold at the winery, in the website's online store and in shops in Concepción, San Pedro de la Paz and Laja.