Viña Umpel

The winery

Viña Umpel works in the dry-farmed interior of Yumbel, in the San Miguel Norte sector, beside the rural road that links route Q-754 with San Cristóbal, about 4 km from the city. The Cartografía Vitivinícola del Biobío (the region's wine map) presents it as a family winery with six generations and close to two centuries of tradition in the area, which preserves a historic cellar with old lagares (treading vats) and vessels. The brand was driven by Ricardo Yáñez, whom the winery presents as its founder; according to WineTourism, the first bottled vintage was 2014, with the País Del Peregrino, whose name refers to the January pilgrimage to San Sebastián de Yumbel.

The vines are bush-trained, unirrigated, and depend on the winter rains. According to the Cartografía, the winery's País holds a certificate of origin from the Centro Tecnológico de la Vid y el Vino of the Universidad de Talca attesting to 5 hectares planted around 1900. The line has four wines: Del Peregrino, an agroecologically farmed País; Don Mario, an early-harvest Carignan at 12.4% alcohol; Curiche, a Malbec that ferments in raulí-wood vats and ages close to a year in barrels, and Nena, a dry Moscatel fermented on its skins in clay tinajas (amphorae). The winery defines its wines as natural, made without additives. In the Guía Descorchados 2026, Nena, Curiche and Don Mario earned 93 points each, the same score Curiche had received in the 2025 edition.

The winery receives guided visits with prior booking for families, groups, companies and agencies: a tour of the vineyard and the adobe winery with its wooden vats, led by the house team, ending with a guided tasting. Request them through the website's form, giving the date and number of people, or by direct message on Instagram, and the winery confirms the time and conditions; it publishes no prices. In September 2026 it said it was finishing a new tasting room. It also hosts weddings, private celebrations and corporate events, with an orchard garden for ceremonies, a lawn beside the vineyard and a tile-roofed shed. The wines are sold in the online shop at umpelwines.com, with shipping, and directly at the winery.