At A Glance
- Region
- Maule Valley, Chile
- Sub-region
- Cauquenes
- Main grapes
- Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault
- Signature wine
- Carigno del Maule
- Defining feature
- Old-vine Cauquenes bush vines on granite, small production
The Producer
Natalia Poblete and María José Ortúzar built Moretta Wines around the dry-farmed old vines of Cauquenes, in the inland reaches of Maule Valley. Their stated aim was to make characterful wines that authentically represent the land and justify the generational dedication that kept those vines alive. A small-production estate working with Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cinsault from bush vines ranging from roughly 20 to 80 years old, all farmed without irrigation on granite soils with high quartz content about 35 km from the Pacific coast.
The wines are made in small batches. Carigno del Maule reaches around 5,400 bottles per vintage; Ceniciento, the Cabernet Sauvignon, around 4,900 bottles. These numbers reflect a deliberate choice to stay small and site-specific rather than scale for volume.
Place
Cauquenes sits in the drier inland section of Maule, where the soils shift from the loam and clay of the central valley to decomposed granite with a high quartz content. The granite here does not hold water the way clay does, which forces the bush vines to root deep and search. Without irrigation, the vines become slow-growing and low-yielding, concentrating what they do produce. The distance from the Pacific, around 35 km, means the coast moderates temperatures without turning the climate maritime. Days are warm enough to ripen Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon fully, while cool nights preserve acidity on the palate.
Soil And Site
Granite with high quartz content is the defining ground across the Moretta vineyards in Cauquenes. Quartz-rich soils reflect heat, which helps ripening on this scale without the coastal influence that keeps the valley floor cooler. The same soils drain sharply after rain, preventing the vine from becoming waterlogged and keeping fruit concentration tight. Dry farming on this ground means the roots dig deep to find moisture, a survival response that translates into wines with texture and grip rather than soft, irrigated fruit. The bush vine training system, traditional in this part of Maule, keeps yields low and sun exposure even across the vine's canopy.
Story
Natalia Poblete and María José Ortúzar met while studying in 2002 and spent the following years building careers on different sides of the Chilean wine industry. They always intended to work together. María José's last role before Moretta was at Santa Rita Estates, one of Chile's large commercial producers. She left in 2017 to focus entirely on Moretta. Natalia continued running her role as head winemaker at the boutique family winery Casa Bauza in parallel with the Moretta project.
Both founders knew large-scale Chilean wine production from the inside, and both chose to work in the opposite direction, making small-batch wines from old vines in a region Cauquenes that mass-production viticulture had not prioritised in the same way as the central valley.
Vineyards And Cellar
The Cauquenes vineyards are dry-farmed on granite and managed as bush vines, a traditional training system that removes the support wire and lets the vine grow as a low, free-standing shrub. The vines in the Carignan parcels average approximately 75 years old, with some blocks reaching around 80 years. The Cinsault vines were planted in the 1920s and 1930s and are over 70 years old. The Cabernet Sauvignon vines are younger, around 20 years, grown on the same granite soils.
In the cellar, Moretta uses native yeasts across the range. Carigno del Maule undergoes partial whole-berry fermentation with a cold maceration of three days before native yeast fermentation, then ages for 20 months in fifth-use French oak barriques of 225 litres. Ceniciento uses cold maceration for five days, then ages for 10 months in seventh-use French oak demi-muids of 400 litres. Vedette Cinsault is made by semi-carbonic fermentation in wooden casks and aged in neutral oak. The use of very old oak across all three wines keeps wood influence minimal, leaving the fermentation character and site expression in the foreground.
Wines
The range has three red wines, each built around a single variety and a specific place in Maule. Carigno del Maule is 100% Carignan from the oldest dry-farmed parcels, aged the longest in wood, and produced in the smallest quantities relative to its status as the anchor wine. Ceniciento is the Cabernet Sauvignon, from granite soils and aged in larger, older oak for a shorter period, producing a wine with a velvety texture and pronounced freshness. Vedette is the Cinsault, made by semi-carbonic fermentation from vines planted in the 1920s and 1930s, the lightest and most aromatic wine in the range. A field blend, Les Espias, also appears in the range, with both a red and a white version.
In The Glass
The Carignan shows raspberry and cherry on the nose, with a floral lift that carries through to a palate defined by firm acidity and tannin. The acidity in this wine is one of its most distinct features: it extends the finish and keeps the wine from feeling heavy despite the vine age and the warm Cauquenes growing season. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Ceniciento, is velvety in texture, with good body and pronounced freshness on the palate, the quartz-rich granite keeping the wine lively. Vedette, the Cinsault, opens with raspberry, pomegranate, white pepper, and flowers, light-bodied and perfumed, with the bright character that semi-carbonic fermentation draws from old bush vines.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Carigno del Maule. It is the wine offering the clearest account of what these vineyards are: Carignan from dry-farmed bush vines averaging approximately 75 years old, grown on granite, fermented with whole berries and native yeasts, and aged for 20 months in old French oak. The acidity is the wine's defining feature, giving it a length and energy that lifts the red fruit and holds the firm tannin in check.
Anecdote
Maria José Ortúzar spent her last years before Moretta at Santa Rita Estates, one of the companies that shaped the commercial face of Chilean wine internationally. In 2017, she walked away from that role to work full-time on a project producing 5,400 bottles of Carigno del Maule per vintage from bush vines no large producer would have considered commercially viable. The calculation was not about volume. She and Natalia Poblete had been planning to work together since they met in 2002, and when the moment came it was defined not by market timing but by a clear choice to make characterful wines from old Cauquenes vines rather than wines shaped by industrial scale.
Final Word
Moretta Wines makes small batches of Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cinsault from dry-farmed old bush vines on the granite soils of Cauquenes, producing wines where site, vine age, and minimal oak intervention are the primary ingredients.