Viña La Fortuna is an organic estate in the Maule valley region of Chile, around 200km south of the capital city of Santiago. It was one one of Chile’s organic pioneers.

Owner: The Güell family (In 2001: Luis Daniel Güell B., and his son Luis Daniel Güell). The Güell family left Tarragona in their native Spain for Chile in the 19th-century. In 1942 the Güell family acquired the estate and the first vines were planted. The winery was built in 1948. According to Hubrecht Duijker (2000, p121) until 1996 the firm of La Fortuna was called Guëll y Borlando [sic], after the families of Daniel Guëll [sic] and his wife. A coat-of-arms from this time can be seen in one of the halls, complete with crown. (This change seems to have been the moment when the company decided to move from bulk to bottled wine). | 2000 Güell raised capital by selling 50% to the Via Group; the La Fortuna brand and the vineyards are separated for more flexibility; winemaker Pedro Contreras Suárez and manager Jorge Madrones leave. | In 2009 I was told that La Fortuna in the form of the Güell and Borlando families is the owner of the vineyards; and that Viña La Fortuna–which is a joint-venture 50% owned by the Güell family and 50% by Viña San Rafael (Jorge Coderch was friends with Luis Daniel Güell B.) under the VIA Group’s umbrella–owns the winery. In 2001 Guell had sold organic wine to Valdivieso to be bottled under the Valdivieso brand.

Estate vineyards: 2001 185 hectares on three sites in the Lontué Valley: Viña La Fortuna El Semillero Vineyard, Viña La Fortuna La Cabaña Vineyard and Viña La Fortuna San Jorge Vineyard. Vineyards are increasing at the expense of fruit.

El Semillero Vineyard: Located in the Lontué Valley. | 2001 100 hectares in total. 81 hectares of crops of which 46 are vineyards and 36 are fruit. Other crops here include perales (pears): Packam’s Triumph, Winter Nellis, Summer Bartlett, Beurre Bosc, Red Bartlett, Avate Fetel; and quince (membrillos): Champion. 2000 Certified organic/organic in conversion by IMO for the 2000 harvest for 46.09 hectares producing 609.9 tonnes from: Cabernet Sauvignon Parron 7 of 5.39 hectares Organic producing 94.3 tonnes. Malbec Parron 3 of 1.00 hectare Organic producing 10.5 tonnes. Malbec Parron 5 of 2.4 hectares Organic producing 21.6 tonnes. Malbec Cuartel 3 of 7.60 hectares Organic producing 75.9 tonnes. Malbec Cuartel 4 of 1.80 hectares Organic producing 18.9 tonnes. Semillon Parron 2 of 6.50 hectares Organic producing 87.7 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Parron 1 of 7.60 hectares Organic producing 125.4 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Parron 6 of 2.80 hectares Organic producing 35.0 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Cuartel 1 of 2.20 hectares Conversion 2nd Year producing 30.7 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Cuartel 2 of 5.40 hectares Conversion 2nd Year producing 81.0 tonnes. Syrah Parron 4 of 3.40 hectares Conversion 0 Year [conventional] producing 28.9 tonnes. | 2001 Viña El Semillero had 46 hectares of organic vines: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Malbec, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Certified organic/organic in conversion by IMO for the 2001 harvest. This covered: Cabernet Sauvignon Parron 7 of 5.39 hectares Organic producing 66.81 tonnes. Malbec Parron 3 of 1.00 hectare Organic producing 14.57 tonnes. Malbec Parron 5 of 2.4 hectares Organic producing 21.68 tonnes. Malbec Cuartel 3 of 7.60 hectares Organic producing 56.04 tonnes. Malbec Cuartel 4 of 1.80 hectares Organic producing 20.74 tonnes. Semillon Parron 2 of 6.50 hectares Organic producing 74.84 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Parron 1 of 7.60 hectares Organic producing 150.79 tonnes.Sauvignon Blanc Parron 6 of 2.80 hectares Organic producing 39.62 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Cuartel 1 of 2.20 hectares Organic producing 50.21 tonnes. Sauvignon Blanc Cuartel 2 of 5.40 hectares Organic producing 89.26 tonnes. Syrah Parron 4 of 3.40 hectares Conversion Conversion 1st Year producing 16.2 tonnes. Total: 46.09 hectares producing 609.9 tonnes.

La Cabaña Vineyard: [This vineyard may also be known as the La Fortuna vineyard]. Owned by Viña La Fortuna. Located in the Lontué Valley. 260 hectares in total. 109 hectares of vineyard. Vineyards contains: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Gewúrztraminer, Riesling, Malbec, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Viña La Cabana has alluvial gravel, clayish topsoil. Contains Malbec, average age 40-60 years old. Other crops include: plums (ciruela) – Friar, Laroda; apples (manzano) – Royal Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Red King Oregon, Starkrinson, Angius, Granny SPur, Top Red; pears (perales) – Winter Nellis, Packham’s Triumph, Summer Bartlett, D’Angiou; quince (membrillo) – Champion; and kiwi (kiwi) – Hayward, Tomuri Matua.

San Jorge Vineyard: Owned by Viña La Fortuna. Located in the Lontué Valley, near the Rio Claro peage off the Pan Americana (on Andean side as you leave the toll booth). 2001 330 hectares of land in total of which 51 hectares of vines: Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, plus Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Malbec.

Organic certification: 1990s in the 1990s the estate was certified organic by PROA for a single vineyard only. This project was probably the first organic project certified as such in Chile but it was not the first organic project in Chile that complied with EU norms. | 1997 First vintage with full organic certification aligned with EU norms. | 2000 46.09 hectares of certified organic vines (IMO) from the El Semillero vineyards (see below). | 2001 46.09 hectares of certified organic vines (IMO) from the El Semillero vineyards (see below). | 2005 Aimed to be 100% organic. | 2007 137.48 hectares by IMO, of which 56.23 ha were whites (49.62 ha of Sauvignon Blanc, 6.10 ha of Chardonnay and 0.51 ha of Others) and 81.25 ha were reds (35.60 ha of CS, 22.88ha of Malbec, 7.60 ha of Merlot, 4.23 ha of Carmenere, 2.24 ha of Pinot Noir, 3.40 ha of Syrah and 5.30 of Aspirant Bouchet). | 2009 The estate had both organic and Fair Trade certification.

Winery: The name of the winery is La Fortuna Sagrada Familia Winery. it is located at Camino a la Costa 901, Sagrada Familia (Lontué Valley) opposite the Güell family’s fruit packing plant. It was built by the Güell family in 1948 (see above). In 2000 it had a capacity for 200,000 litres of stainless steel (which had recently replaced the old rauli woode vats) and 1m litres of concrete. In 2001 it was refurbished and had  a 3 million litre capacity of which 75% was in stainless steel.

Winemaking: 2001 Claudio Barria from Cauquenes experiments with micro-oxidation on Cabernet Sauvignon and SB, and cryoextraction on Cabernet too. Sergio Traverso began a joint-venture called Vinos de la Buenaventura with Viña La Fortuna to produce wine under the Traverso label, it seems.

White wines

Sauvignon Blanc

Red wines

Cabernet Sauvignon

Carmenère

Malbec, Ventura

Syrah

Contact

Viña La Fortuna

Office Tabancura 1515, Of 218 Lontué, Chile | Tel+56 02.9538271

Winery Camino a la Costa 901 Sagrada Familia, Curicó | Tel+56 075.471023

Website: www.lafortuna.cl

Bibliography

Hubrecht Duijker, Wines of Chile (Mitchell Beazley, 2000), p120-121.

Peter Tromans, California Dreaming, Wine & Spirit International, September 1996.

Visit by Monty Waldin 18th August 2000.