REGION: Maule

Clos des Fous’ philosophy is to produce wines with tension, from grapes grown in extreme terroir, with minimal intervention in the winery. Clos des Fous is one of Chile’s most innovative, inspiring, and authentic wineries producing some of the most exciting wines in South America.

Patricio Tapia and his partner Lina Gomez love the old school, elegant Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from the 1970’s and 1980’s. The nostalgic couple decided to establish Edicion M.R. chasing a style that is restrained, typically softer, less extracted, sees less time in oak, and has lower ABV.

Garage Wine began quite literally in Pilar and Derek’s garage. GWCo makes wines from a series of individual parcels, small lots / bottlings of 8 -22 barrels that include dry-farmed Carignan, Garnacha, Monastrell, País, Cinsault and Cab Franc grown in in the Maule and Itata.

Currently in the vineyard about thirty thousand bottles are produced per year, production that comes mostly from four hectares of vineyards of almost two hundred years of País and other Creole strains. These ancestral vines are “pie franco” meaning no rootstock.

Dubbed Laberinto for the labyrinth-inspired row plantings, Rafael Tirado founded the winery in 1993 in the easternmost corner of the Maule Valley. After nearly thirty vintages, his wines’ signature balance of acidity and elegance have cemented them as benchmarks within Chile.