The Chilean winery was founded in 1876 by Don Alberto Valdivieso. He had learned to appreciate champagne during a stay in Paris, especially the brand
Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin. The first vines were planted in 1879. For the first decades only sparkling wine was produced, but it was not until the 20th century that still wines were also produced. Today the estate is still family-owned, the Mitjanes group is also the largest liqueur producer in
Chile. It is managed by family member Felix Gil Mitjanes. Advice is provided by the Californian winemaker Paul Hobbs, who also looks after
Catena Zapata in Argentina. The property in the
Curicó area covers 420 hectares, 120 of which are planted with vines. These are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Chardonnay, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. However, large quantities of grapes are also bought in.
The company is the largest Chilean producer of sparkling wines, produced according to the Champagne method and the Méthode charmat. Raphael Brisbois, who worked for Piper-Heidsieck in Champagne, is responsible for this. The still wines are produced in the newly built "Lontué" winery, the sparkling wines in the "Celia Solar" winery. A very original still wine is the red wine cuvée "Caballo Loco" (engl. "crazy horse"). This is produced similar to the Solera system for
sherry and is numbered consecutively. Only half of the "Caballo Loco No. 1" was bottled, the second half was used for the "Caballo Loco No. 2" of the next vintage. This goes on like this, "Caballo Loco No. 5" already contains five vintages. Another premium wine is the "Reserva Chardonnay". Altogether six million bottles of wine are produced annually. In the USA the wines are marketed under the label "Stonelake".
