About 14 years ago, Paredones began circulating in the press as the new coastal frontier of the Colchagua Valley. Many arrived and claimed to be pioneers, speaking of the potential of coastal wines whose freshness would compete with other valleys. However, the true pioneers have gradually become known: families who preserved Creole and European varieties planted under a curious and unknown rootstock. Such is the case of the Galarce family, which is spearheading the journey back to the unknown historical viticulture of this sector.
From Santiago to Paredones, I estimated it was about six hours. My references were as follows: it had been mentioned in 2013 (the year I first traveled to the area) as the commune with the lowest salaries in Chile. And the second, new characterization revolved around the fact that some Colchagua vineyards had conquered their own coast. This was no small matter, since these were times when proximity to the sea meant potential and brilliance: if Limarí had Fray Jorge and Leyda and Casablanca were in the center, the Colchagua Valley had Paredones. This gave it new authority to talk about coastal breezes, salinity, and acidity, issues that, at the time, seemed to be neglected for the valley.
What promised to be a chronicle of the situation ended in a clash of authorities, since everyone at that euphoric moment claimed to be pioneers, which is the same as saying that some had arrived before others. Five years later, winemaker José Ignacio Maturana reversed the relationship, discovering old vineyards of Semillon, Riesling, and other white varieties that seemed unknown. We discovered a pattern that was repeated in the area: the same European and Creole white varieties were planted, for the most part, and these had a well-defined origin in the history of Paredones. The final conclusion is that no one could be considered a pioneer if varieties and viticulture had already existed in the area for more than a hundred years. Rather, they were all continuators of a tradition.
THE HISTORIC WINE OF PAREDONES
When it comes to going back in history, there are some notable events. On October 28, 1763, Juan Bautista Montero was baptized in the church of Paredones. He inherited 600 blocks of land, including 3,000 vines and a mill that would have been preserved until 1829. In that century, 3,000 vines was considered a large vineyard, not the same size as the vineyards currently operating. This detail, recorded in the book Founding Families of Chile, opens our eyes to something more important: the historic viticulture sites, one of which was the Querelema estate in Paredones.
It was Joseph Casas Cordero, captain of one of the Militia Companies of the Salinas Battalion, who documented on May 6, 1786, that, given the possibility of disputes and lawsuits over the size of the Querelema estate, it was decided that his half would comprise two thousand blocks of land, which today would be equivalent to approximately 3,145 hectares. The enormous size of the estate gave rise to several successions, which were then subdivided, some of which included vineyards and wheat production.
It wasn't until 1924 that the results of the winemaking activity at the Querelema estate were recorded. The 1924 Wine Guide (Print La Ilustración) highlights the Querelema Vineyard, then owned by Eduardo Moore Bravo de Neveda, born in Paredones, who would later become a surgeon, botanist, senator and representative for O'Higgins, and director of the Museum of Natural History. Moore had a vineyard with 65 productive hectares, equipped with a winery with machinery and technology unusual for the coastal area, such as a pump, press, and grape harvester (destemmer).
The varieties Eduardo Moore planted, according to the guide, were Riesling, Semillon, Chasselas, Loca (white ovoid), Cuyana, Sauvignon, and Muscat. The total production was around 4,000 arrobas of both wine and chicha. In a 2013 interview, one of Eduardo Moore's fourth-generation descendants, grape producer Max Rodríguez, pointed out the same varieties and that some of them had been imported by his ancestor on his study missions to Europe. He also stated that a subdivision of the Querelema estate, belonging to Don Darío Galarce, still preserves some of the estate's old vines. And something else.
FELIPE CANDIA AND THE GALARCE FAMILY, A FORTUNATE CROSSROADS
Winemaker Felipe Candia, who has worked for decades in prominent vineyards in Colchagua and is now dedicated to providing advice and support to small and medium-sized producers in the valley, invited us to Paredones, where he is collaborating on viticulture and winemaking with a family who, in his words, "owned an old vineyard with Riesling and other white varieties." Surprisingly, they were the children of Don Darío Galarce, as Max Rodríguez explained. Indeed, the vineyard was part of the Querelema estate, containing rows of Riesling and a veritable garden of white wines. But that's not all; it also has a winery and antique winemaking equipment, such as a pump, press, and destemmer. Similar to what was indicated in the 1924 Wine Guide. Felipe Candia states that, given the foundry inscriptions, they could be tools from the beginning of the last century.
In addition, old raulí and oak barrels can be seen, which together could easily hold around four thousand arrobas (64,000 liters). This coincides with the productive capacity of Viña Querelema, indicated in the 1924 guide. This is no coincidence.
The vineyard and winery are under the care of the 12 children of the marriage between Don Darío Galarce and Doña Rosa Marambio: Irma, Lila, Oti, Gustavo, Bidita, Darío, Angélica, Gladys, Graciela, Érika, Magaly, and Norelli. We spoke with two sisters, Lila and Irma Galarce, representing them; although they all welcomed us with the same eagerness and desire to share their story, because it is one of those families that are built like an indelible fingerprint deep within the land.
Lila Galarce remembers her mother, Rosa, and her father, Darío. She tells us that he came from the El Maqui area of Paredones, near the area also known as La Viña. He arrived by purchasing land from a sister (in Querelema), and immediately put his shovel and effort into building a vineyard with white and some local red varieties, to make raw chicha, which was consumed during the threshing season.
Wine was closely linked to wheat, since, Irma affirms, “the threshing would last up to three days at a time, and my father always had sweet chicha ready for the season.” Lila tells us that her father would even “have chicha reserved for him before it was ready,” an ineffable sign that “he was a respectable man, and well-known in Paredones. I remember people coming from Cahuil, Pichilemu, Bucalemu, and even La Ligua for his chicha.” Lovers of sweet must knew he was the key man.
The children of Don Darío and Rosa maintain an agreement among the old vines: that tradition must never die. Lila and Irma feel the vineyard is a living memory, and that even "without knowing anything, after our father's death, we learned and got to know his work, because we were already fond of what he did. We started sifting wine once and made wine, the artisanal way. That was until Felipe Candia came along, who is now like a son to us, and he helps us do everything."
With her heart exposed, Lila tells us that “this can't be lost, much less sold. The good thing is that the young members of the family are determined to continue, and that everything will continue. My father would be happy,” she notes.
The Galarce family and Felipe Candia already have a batch of Don Darío Riesling for sale, a dry wine to pair with seafood, and Rojo Rosa, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and País. Both wines have helped them see a result, concluding the grape's potential and its relationship with the winery's and family's capabilities. Now they are preparing to project the Paredones variety, and, admittedly, they are finalizing a 100% Riesling sparkling wine, which is not intended as a rescue, but rather as a way of harmonizing and in tune with the times and preferences.
This is not a contradiction, since traditions can and have the right to be updated, to build a new sequence, which demonstrates that the past and history are distinct paths. History is a reading, a record, and a glimpse into the facts. The past is merely what happened. These grapes and wines represent a long stretch of Paredones' winemaking history, but the true one.
Translated from spanish with help of Google Translate