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 wines are made with minimal intervention and lots of love! Their 2018’s have recently landed and are unapologetically full of life and a pure joy to drink straight-out-of-the-fridge. |