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Polkura Winery Guide

Cellar Tours Insight — Since 2003, Cellar Tours has planned private wine journeys through the world’s leading wine regions, pairing tailor-made itineraries with VIP winery visits, fine dining, and expert regional guidance.

Winery Overview

Sven Bruchfeld and Gonzalo Muñoz; two men on a mission to craft Chile’s best Syrah, driven by a life-long passion for the grape and a belief that the Colchagua Valley in Chile could be the next great terrior for this variety. They established vineyards in the valley very recently, planting 12 hectares of Syrah in 2002. By Chilean standards, this was to be a tiny, almost boutique style operation with a production of fewer than 5,000 cases a year across their range. In a short space of time, the wines have risen to the top ranks of Syrah being produced in Chile today, Sven and Gonzalo are setting the standard for others to follow.

The seeds for this great endeavor were sown in 1998, the two winemakers met-up in Narbonne quite by chance one afternoon. Long-time friends since University, the two men tasted their way through a selection of local Syrahs and instantly knew that this was the grape variety they wished to nurture to perfection. Only one country would do – Chile. After returning to South America they set about searching for the ideal terroir to realize their dream. In 2002, they settled upon an area known as Marchigue, a sub-region of the Colchagua Valley. Purchasing a run-down farm gave them access to some land known as the Polkura Hill, meaning yellow stone, a reference to a large amount of yellow granite in the clay soils of the area. The vineyard site, located on the eastern edge of the Valley, benefited from the cooling Pacific Ocean breezes and higher altitude. Their mission was finally realized and in 2004, the first vintage was released.

Minute quantities of their Block G+I Syrah are produced today, a wine that many consider to be Chile’s greatest expression of the Rhone grape variety. The Brucellosis and Muñoz families are not ones to idly sit on their hands, however, and constantly strive to take the wines to new heights. Top notch modern facilities and a unique terroir help them achieve this. The wines continue to impress all who taste them, for sheer opulence and rich, supple exotic fruit they are hard to beat. Visitors to the stunningly beautiful Colchagua valley are guaranteed the wine experience of a lifetime and with Sven and Gonzalo, you are in safe hands!

Private Wine Tours in Chile

Private Wine Tours in Chile

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Further Reading

Author

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James Lawrence

With a passion for food & drink that verges on the obsessive, wine writer James Lawrence has traveled the world in search of the perfect tipple. To date, nothing has surpassed the 1952 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva, tasted in the cobweb-filled cellars with owner María José. Meanwhile, James has been writing for a wide variety of publications for over 12 years, including Telegraph, Decanter, Harpers, The Drinks Business, and Wine Business International. He lives in South Wales and returns to his former university city, Bilbao, as much as possible.

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