Felipe Zuniga
Chile
Cabernet fans need look no further - Felipe is your man
Recommended to us by none other than Chilean wine Goddess Constanza Schwaderer, she trusted Felipe to find Angels the best Cabernet in Cauquenes
Felipe believes being a good oenologist is like being a conductor. You can have the best musical instruments and the best score, but it is the winemaker's interpretation that gives the final personality to the wine.
Passionate about Cabernet Sauvignon and with a loathing for mass produced wines, Felipe says – “Each of my wines is the result of the personality of the vineyard and the seal that I print on it as a winemaker.”
Felipe Zuniga's Story
Felipe's Story
"In 1993 I joined the University of Chile, then graduated as an agronomist specialized in winemaking, my first experiences were in the Aquitania vineyard, then I worked in the Santa Carolina vineyard, in 2000 and 2001 I did some grape harvesting in France and Spain. Since 2002 I worked for more than 13 years with the small producers of the Lomas de Cauquenes cooperative, the last 4 years besides being the winemaker I was also general manager.
Starting in 2014, I started my own company named VIÑA SAN CLEMENTE, and for the last 4 years I have been advising the only boutique vineyard in the Caribbean in the Dominican Republic. In the year 2015 I founded the Association of small winemakers of the dry land of Cauquenes named VIDSECA.
My desire to be a winemaker does not come from a family tradition, my passion for wine is born when my father-in-law who is an antiquarian invites me to enjoy a wine from the area of Mangarral, he tells me that this wine is the result of old vines of more than 180 years and old men attached to their customs. He told me that a good oenologist is like the conductor. I can have the best musical instruments and the best score, but it is the winemaker's interpretation that gives the final personality to the wine.
I am captivated by this mixture of science and art, where the elaboration of a good wine, requires measurements and numerical data, but also requires a special sensitivity that can convey the sensory experience of each wine elaborated.
For me one of the important and exciting things is to work with small winegrowers. Since my arrival at the Cauquenes cooperative in the south of the Maule Valley, I work on producing wines that represent their origin. Each wine has its personality, I am passionate about being able to interpret the feeling of the small vineyards that are guardians of their traditions and their culture. There is no art, no passion in the production of laboratory wines that the only thing they are looking for is cloning wines without their own identity.
My wine is part of what I like to transmit a mixture that respects the character of his strain with the complexity and personality that gives it its origin.
I think it is important that my wine respects the character of their strain alongside the complexity and personality that gives it its origin.
The style that I prefer to make is wines that do not have excess of aromas to wood, that respect the fruit of its variety and the personality of its terroir of origin
My favourite varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Pais. Cabernet is the strain that has given Chilean wines international fame, and the other strains are part of our heritage.
I want to defend this territory from the south of the Maule Valley, I need resources to write a book or publication that allows me to display with photos and videos the centuries old vineyards, their culture and their people. This type of audio visual material is expensive, but we need to make visible this lost territory so that people can’t forget.
The big companies started more than 5 years ago to buy land and plant their large areas of vineyards, because they know that our terroir is one of the highest quality. We would much rather keep the small vineyards that work in a sustainable way, and hope we will be able to continue to elaborate unique wines that invite to dream.
I joined Naked as a winemakers because it allows me to be able to show my wines to consumers directly, and I hope the Angels have a desire to taste wines that besides its unique characteristics, transmit history. This is a tremendous opportunity and a pride for me, to be part of a group of Angels that respects and discovers new experiences through the wines.
I hope that being part of Naked, I get to show off things that happen in distant places and invite them to be part of this, all through a bottle of wine."