Flavors of Place: Winemaker Teresita Ovalle Channels Chile’s Terroir at Viña Santa Rita

From mountain-grown Cabernet to coastal Chardonnay, Teresita Ovalle crafts Viña Santa Rita’s Floresta wines to reflect Chile’s diverse terroirs with precision, elegance and a sense of place.

Viña Santa Rita vineyards.

Terroir has taken center stage under the guidance of inspiring young winemaker Teresita Ovalle at Viña Santa Rita.

The Chilean native has pushed the winery to new heights with a charmingly diverse portfolio of wines that showcase a collection of dramatically impressive vineyard sites.

From Chardonnay grown just over 18 miles from the Pacific Ocean to old-vine Carmenère harvested months earlier than most, Ovalle’s approach reflects a deep connection to the land—and a desire to express it honestly.

In the Viña Santa Rita Floresta Chardonnay 2021 ($25), Ovalle highlights the mineral-rich alluvial soils of Limarí, shaped by ancient Andean rivers.

“The place gives us everything—the wind, the fog, the cool evenings—it keeps the acidity and freshness,” she said.

It’s a wine that gets whole-cluster pressed and partially fermented with wild yeast. There is only minimal malolactic conversion - about 30%. The result is a textured, layered white that balances citric brightness with tropical notes, and a tension between volume and vibrancy.

“We don’t want it too vertical or too linear,” Ovalle said. “Chardonnay needs some volume. It’s not Sauvignon Blanc.”

With the red wines, Ovalle embraced a wide collection of terroirs and rose to the challenge of expressing the nuance of Chile’s climate and geography. The Viña Santa Rita Floresta Carmenère 2022 ($25), grown on nearly century-old vines in granite soils with no irrigation, was aged in concrete tanks. It opened with cedar, cacao, tobacco, dried violets and red fruit with firm, grippy tannins.

Becuase the old vines are so predictable as they self regulate during the growing season, Ovalle feels like she is humming right along with them as they produce fruit which eventually strolls into the cellar ready for its fermentation process.

“It’s too easy to make,” Ovalle joked. “The grapes are ready. We use natural yeast and age the wine in concrete. It’s incredible.”

A tiny hilltop vineyard just 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean produced the Viña Santa Rita Floresta Cabernet Franc 2021 ($25). There always seems to be a late spring which contributed to the fruit undergoing a slow maturation process.

The result is a meaty, feral nose layered with fennel and sour cherry.

“Cab Franc tannins must be soft—if not, it doesn’t work,” said Ovalle, who believes this once-blending grape has finally earned its solo spot.

Viña Santa Rita Mapio Vineyards.

The Viña Santa Rita Floresta Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 ($25) is grown in the Andes at a vineyard over 2,296 feet, where temperature swings almost cover 70 degrees. The result is fruit with freshness and structure.