Viña Wuampuhue

The winery

Wuampuhue, “place of the canoe” in Mapudungun, is the winery of Isolina Huenulao, a Mapuche Lafkenche woman, and her husband Camilo Gómez, in a community on the north bank of the Imperial River, some 16 kilometers from Carahue on the road to Nehuentúe. It began as a pilot program of Indap and Prodesal that supplied plants and advice to a handful of growers in La Araucanía; the first harvest was in 2017, and that fruit was vinified at Viña Ahinco, in Galvarino. Since 2019 the family has made its wine on its own property and, with winemaking guidance from the Centro de Extensión Vitivinícola del Sur, produced what was presented as the first sparkling wine from a Mapuche winery. The winery is part of the Carahue Navegable river route, and in 2017 Isolina took second place in the indigenous enterprise category of the “Cambiando Mentes, Cambiando Mundos” competition.

The vineyard is small: half a hectare of Pinot Noir on a slope surrounded by native forest, which the family irrigates with spring water pumped by solar panels and keeps free of herbicides, with sheep grazing between the rows. From that fruit comes the house wine, a traditional-method brut rosé sparkling wine with the Valle del Cautín designation of origin, onion-skin in color and fresh in acidity, whose label bears a gold medal from Catad'Or 2021. Earlier there was a still Pinot Noir called Llanka (“jewel”), and today the winery also makes the Füshküko apple cider, “I am going to refresh my heart”. There is no online shop: the wines are bought at the winery and inquiries go through Instagram or WhatsApp.

The visit, booked by WhatsApp, combines the family's story and Mapuche Lafkenche culture with a walk through the vineyard and its surroundings, an explanation of how the wine and the sparkling wine are made, and a tasting of the sparkling wine. For groups of ten or more there is a tasting of sparkling wine and cider with a cocktail and traditional dishes, which includes the guided walk and a talk by Isolina on her experience in wine tourism. If you want to stay, there is a cabin for two with a wood stove and a wooden hot tub on the terrace, looking out over the vineyard. Arrive ten or fifteen minutes before the tour starts, because once it has begun it is not possible to join.