Vinedo Chadwick

The Terroir

In 1942, Don Alfonso Chadwick bought the 300-hectare Viña San José de Tocornal estate and its vineyards in the Alto Maipo Valley. The property was later divided and the family retained their family home and 25 hectares, including the family home and Don Alfonso’s polo field.

Eduardo Chadwick, foreseeing the potential of this unique terroir, convinced his father Alfonso to convert his beloved polo field into vineyards, and in 1992 it was planted to Cabernet Sauvignon.

The vine spacing is 2.0 meters between rows by 1.2 meters between vines with 4,166 vines per hectare. The vines are trained to a vertical trellis and spur pruned. The cool morning breezes blowing down from the mountains, row orientation and moderate daytime temperatures allow the grapes to ripen to perfection while preserving their fruit intensity and acidity.

Viñedo Chadwick is managed using sustainable farming practices. Cover crops are planted in autumn and spring for vigor control and provide a natural environment for selected plants to control harmful insects. As part of these practices, during winter piles of compost are produced to fertilize the vineyard naturally.

According to the vigor observed during the growing season the vineyard is divided into different blocks which are monitored independently. Viticultural decisions are made in each of these blocks guaranteeing that the fruit is harvested at optimal ripeness and uniformity. Yields are maintained at a maximum of 3 to 4 ton/ha.

For careful vigor control, irrigation is done under a unique and highly technical drip irrigation system that allows different irrigation patterns among the defined blocks in the vineyard.

At harvest time these various blocks are harvested separately and at different times. Even sections of one individual row can be harvested at two or three times. Only the best grapes are selected, and all are hand picked.

Viñedo Chadwick is located 650 m above sea level at Puente Alto, in the Maipo Valley in the southeastern sector of Santiago at the foot of the Andes Mountains along the northern bank of the Maipo River. The 15-hectare vineyard is considered one of Chile’s best terroirs for producing Cabernet Sauvignon of exceptional quality.

The Mediterranean climate has a long dry season, and rainfall is concentrated in the winter (328 mm), while the high daytime-night time temperature oscillation is one of the main factors responsible for the intense colour of the wines sourced from this zone. The mean January temperature is 21°C and the historical average of heat summation is 1,579 degree days.

The vineyard is located in Puente Alto, on the south-east border of Chile’s capital Santiago, along the Northern bank of the Maipo River in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

The elevation of the vineyard is 650 meters above sea level, planted on an old alluvial terrace of the Maipo River. The soils are moderately fertile, with a 40-cm clay-loam stratum (clay content 15%–20%), over an alluvial layer with 70% stone content that provides excellent drainage.