BIO BIO, Chile

Perhaps it’s a bit gauche to frame an artisan winegrower by their public persona but Manuel Moraga Guttierez is one of the few figures whose extroversion is utterly heartfelt.  Every interaction with him is full of toasting, grape emojis and good cheer.  His Spanish ancestor, Francisco Guttierez, arrived in Chile in search of gold, settled in Yumbel and established vineyards.  Seven generations of Guttierez farmers have preserved the ancient, ungrafted vines nestled in the deep volcanic soils created by the explosions of the Antuco and Sierra Nevada Volcanoes some 60 million years ago.  The vines are old as shit, the winemaking is totally untechnological and the result is some of our favorite, albeit occasionally explosive (literally!) farmstead wines ever!