Viña Errázuriz

Viña Errázuriz is one of Chile’s leading wine estates. It has a long history, having been founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano – the first to travel 100km north of Santiago and plant vineyards in Panquehue in the Aconcagua Valley. His philosophy was simple: “From the best land, the best wine.” The first wine was released in 1873 and by 1890 the property had grown to 700 hectares – then the largest vineyard in the world owned by an individual.

Don Maximiano’s son Rafael took over and expanded the property further, reaching 1,300 hectares. Rafael’s daughter married Alejando Chadwick, a winemaker in the Maipo Valley – and it’s their descendant, Eduardo Chadwick, who has put Errázuriz on the international stage.

Eduardo Chadwick trained as an industrial engineer, however returned to work in the family business before going to study in Bordeaux under the legendary Emile Peynaud. When he returned to Errázuriz in 1983, he brought his newfound technical knowledge and a fresh approach, driving quality up significantly.

Chadwick wasn’t content with just Errázuriz, however, creating Viñedo Chadwick in the Maipo Valley and Seña in the Aconcagua – two icon wines to sit alongside Errázuriz’ flagship Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve. Determined to prove the quality of Chilean wine, Eduardo Chadwick set up a blind tasting of the world’s top Cabernet Sauvignon blends (including First Growth Bordeaux and Super Tuscans), a tribute to the 1976 Judgement of Paris, held in Berlin in 2004. Seña and Viñedo Chadwick came first and second – and when they repeated the tasting around the world, the results continued to prove that Chile could compete with the world’s best wines.

Today Errázuriz has vineyards in the Aconcagua Valley, Aconcagua Costa and Casablanca Valley. The historic heart of the estate is the 222-hectare Don Maximiano property around Panquehue, where the estate’s top reds are made (including Don Maximiano Founder’s Reserve, KAI Carménère and La Cumbre Syrah). They expanded to purchase vineyards in the cooler, coastal Aconcagua Costa, which is where the Las Pizarras and Aconcagua Costa bottlings are produced, while they also have additional vineyards in the Casablanca Valley.

While they still use the original 19th century building, in 2010, they added two state-of-the-art wineries – one of which is used exclusively for their top, icon wines.