A series of chance encounters is what let Macarena del Río and Thomas Parayre to find each other and to start their joint project, Macatho in 2016. Born in Chile to a French mother, Maca enrolled at the prestigious University of Bordeaux to study winemaking. While a student, she stumbled across a natural winebar in Southwest France that inspired her and changed her way of thinking about wine. After completing her studies, she worked harvest with several natural winemakers across France, including the famed Yvon Métras in Beaujolais. Born in France, Thomas arrived in Chile seeking adventure. He worked odd jobs all of the country before starting his own graphic design firm. Along the way, he moved in with a new roommate by the name of Louis-Antoine Luyt, who was then working in restaurants and beginning to learn about wine; his course was forever changed. Maca and Thomas, who met during a harvest with Luyt, are some of the the most talked-about newcomers to the wine scene in Chile. Based in Chillán, they currently work and farm old-vine parcels of land organically in Maule, BíoBío and Itata. In the cellar, the wine is made with minimal intervention and lots of love!
The Wines
ChaCha is from Chasselas (69-year-old vines) and Chardonnay (13-year-old vines) plantings in the organically farmed Cerro Negro vineyard, which is 70 meters above sea level and 60 km away from the Pacific. The soils are a mix of basalts with a loamy texture. The grapes are harvested by hand (the Chardonnay before the Chasselas). The grapes macerate gently on their skins (30 days for the Chardonnay, 20 days for the Chasselas) and ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. The two varieties are blended and then bottled without fining, filtration, or sulfite addition.
María Rosé is from the Chimiltito vineyard of ancient (~200-year-old) own-rooted País vines. The vineyard is about 45 km from the Pacific, and 110 meters above sea level. Soils here are sedimentary with multiple layers and a loamy texture. The grapes are harvested by hand and destemmed. They macerate on their skins for five days in stainless steel tanks, then ferment with indigenous yeasts in the same vessels. Bottled without fining or filtering.
Segundo Flores is made from 0.5ha (in 3 tiny parcels) of 150-year-old pie franco País grown in the Maule Valley on granite clay soils. This is the highest elevation vineyard that they work with and the vines are within 20km of the Pacific Ocean. The grapes are hand-harvested in early April and cooled overnight, destemmed and spontaneously fermented in stainless steel with 14 days on skins, then racked and raised 6 months in the same vessels. Bottled with the bare minimum of added SO2.
Toca Tierra is made from centenarian pie franco País grown in the Itata Valley on granite clay soils. The grapes are hand-harvested in early April and cooled overnight, de-stemmed and spontaneously fermented in stainless steel with 69 days on skins, then raised in the same vessels for 6 months. Bottled with the bare minimum of added SO2.
Tinajacura is made with pie franco Cinsault co-planted with young Carignan (grafted onto old país rootstock) grown in the Itata Valley. The grapes were hand-harvested the first week of April, de-stemmed and co-fermented in stainless steel with 14 days on skins, then aged on fine lees in the same vessels for 6 months. Bottled unfiltered, with the bare minimum of added SO2.
Allípallá is made from young-vine pie franco País, Garnacha & Mourvèdre grown in the Itata Valley on granite clay soils. The grapes are hand-harvested in early April and cooled overnight, de-stemmed and spontaneously co-fermented in stainless steel with 14 days on skins, then raised in the same vessels for 6 months. Bottled with the bare minimum of added SO2.
Caña Dulce comes from a 0.3ha parcel of young cinsault grown 32km from the Pacific, close to the Itata River. The grapes are hand-harvested in mid-March, 100% whole-cluster carbonic maceration in stainless steel with 15 days on skins, then raised on fine lees in the same vessels until the following March. The finished wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with the bare minimum of added SO2. Fresa Grossa comes from a 0.4ha parcel of young Syrah grown 51km from the Pacific, close to the winery. The grapes are hand-harvested in late March, 100% whole-cluster carbonic maceration in stainless steel with 21 days on skins, then raised on fine lees in the same vessels until the following March. The finished wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with a small amount of added SO2.
Location
General Info
Founded: 2016
Region: Chile
Appellation: Valle del Itata
Village: San Nicolás
Elevation: 50-350 meters
Climate: Mediterranean
Soils: Granite & clay
Vineyard Land: all rented and farmed collaboratively with local small farmers.
