Over the past few vintages, we have gradually been increasing the production of our Aconcagua blend to meet the growing demand (thank you!). We have made a number of changes to facilitate that growth, such as adding a small barrel cellar and expanding our press pad. Despite these changes, we are really pushing the limits of what we can do at our current location. Last year, we made 1600 cases, and there were barrels and bins everywhere! Short of moving production into the living room, there isn’t much more we can do to expand production here. After last harvest, we started thinking seriously about whether to continue growing and, if so, how to go about doing that.
As we started to look around for house for blogoptions, we found our solution just a kilometer from our house. It’s an old fundo, or farm estate, that long ago was broken up into several smaller properties. The original adobe farmhouse retained just under a hectare of land, part of which is planted to fruit trees and part of which is fallow. The property also features a brick warehouse (a former fruit packing plant), which will become our fermentation facility. We are planning to convert the two largest rooms in the farmhouse into a barrel cellar, as the thick adobe walls should provide the ideal temperature and humidity conditions. The rest of the house will be remodeled into offices and a future tasting room and visitors’ center. Finally, we’ll plant tempranillo vines on the back half of the property.
The road to ownership was not without its obstacles. We made our offer way back in June, under the assumption that we would have plenty of time to prep the building for the 2014 harvest. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way, as every missing document or certification turned into additional months of waiting. And then we hit the lull that is summer vacation in Chile, when half the workforce is out of the office in January and the other half in February. It did eventually come together, however, and the papers have finally been signed and the sale notarized. With any luck, we’ll take possession of the property in late March–not before the start of harvest, but perhaps in time to make use of the facility.
/FlahertyWines
@flahertywines
@flahertywines