The Vineyard Comes First: How Pewën de Apalta Redefines Carménère
Old vines, granitic soils and dry-farmed hillsides help transform Carménère into a wine that speaks more about Apalta than the grape itself.
For years, Carménère has carried a reputation.
It is Chile’s signature grape, yet one often misunderstood. Critics have called it rustic. Others have labeled it overly herbal or heavy-handed. While Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir often dominate conversations about fine wine, Carménère has spent much of its modern history trying to prove it belongs in the same discussion.
Then there is Pewën de Apalta.
The wine certainly comes from Carménère, but according to winemaker Sebastián Labbé, that is not where the story begins.
“What first attracted me was not the variety, but the vineyard itself, the place,” Labbé said.
That place is Apalta, one of Chile’s most celebrated wine regions, tucked into the Colchagua Valley. The vines that produce Pewën were planted in 1938 and have spent nearly nine decades adapting to granitic soils and dry-farmed conditions.
Walk through the vineyard, Labbé said, and the history is impossible to ignore.
“These vines were planted in 1938 and have spent nearly ninety years adapting to the granitic soils and dry-farmed conditions of Apalta,” he said. “When you walk through the vineyard, you immediately feel that history and connection to place.”
Those old vines are more than a historical footnote. They shape the wine itself.
Because the vineyard is dry-farmed and naturally low yielding, the vines produce fruit with concentration and complexity. More importantly, they have developed deep root systems that allow them to express the site with remarkable precision.
