Teillery

The winery

Teillery is a family project in Isla de Maipo that began in 1997, when winemaker José Teillery, trained at the Universidad de Chile with postgraduate studies in Bordeaux, decided to grow his vines without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. He chose Los Guindos, a locality in the Maipo Valley, for its soils, for the irrigation water he could use and because it was relatively isolated from other plantings, which reduced the risk of contamination. His daughter, Solange Teillery, now runs the winery. A company profile published on ConnectAmericas dates the business to 1986; the winery and Enoturismo Chile tell its story from 1997.

The winery's website, now offline and preserved in archived copies from January 2022, declared 85 hectares of red grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Carménère and Cabernet Franc), with organic certification from IMO/Ecocert and, since 2012, Fair for Life fair-trade certification; whether those seals are still current remains to be confirmed. At the time it worked two lines from its own vineyards: wines from organic grapes with added sulfites, such as the Select Terroir Merlot and the Reserva and Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon and blends, and wines with no added sulfites, from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a rosé. The Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon spent 18 months in French oak barrels; the one in the sulfite-free line, six months in stainless steel. The house presents itself as the maker of Chile's first wine from organic grapes with no added sulfites. Much of its output has gone to export, which is why the label is little known in Chile.

The winery, in colonial style with arched corridors and clay amphorae (tinajas), is at Armijo 815, in the middle of a park of some 40,000 square meters, and its hall is offered for weddings and corporate events; the same house runs another event venue, Casa Escondida, in Malloco. Enoturismo Chile lists general tours, tours with tasting and group tours, in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian and French, with 48 hours' notice, but no itinerary or price is published: it is best to ask at +56 9 7518 2567 or solange@teillery.cl. For buying wine, Google Maps shows opening hours of Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 18:00 and customers mention the cellar door at the winery; no online store is published.