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History
More than 160 years of history dedicated to the production of top-level wines make us one of the Chilean wineries with the longest history and leaders in the industry. This is a part of our intense and exciting journey, one that we will undoubtedly continue to write about for a long time to come.
Colonial origins
Our wines capture the essence of Chile's winemaking tradition, dating back more than 500 years to a territory that in colonial times was designated by order of the King of Spain for the production of country and muscatel strains, in order to supply wine to the Eucharist and part of Chilean society. The person in charge of fulfilling this mission was Juan Jufré, Spanish conquistador and former owner of the land where the Macul property is located today.
It took 300 years until Matías Cousiño acquired the 1,000 hectares of Hacienda Macul in 1856. It was there, in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, that this fertile territory fed by the Las Perdices springs and the San Carlos canal, was established. It became the first foundation of what would later be a successful family business founded by Luis Cousiño together with his wife Isidora Goyenechea, after the death of his father Don Matías Cousiño.
The Vineyard is born
Upon inheriting the lands of the Macul property, the Cousiño Goyenechea couple set out to realize their family dream of starting wine production, so they decided to renew the vines that were cultivated at that time and bring the first famous vines of the vineyard from France. that to this day are part of our DNA.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were imported from the Pauillac region, Sauvignon Verde and Gris from the Martillac region and Riesling from Alsace, the latter an exclusive white grape variety personally selected by Doña Isidora.
Isidora Goyenechea
After the death of Luis Cousiño, Isidora Goyenechea assumed management of the vineyard, becoming one of the first businesswomen on the continent and teaching visionary and innovative management. She considerably improved the working conditions of the workers, standardized the production of wines to guarantee their constant excellence, supervised the construction of the vineyard's iconic winery (commissioned by Luis Cousiño) until its inauguration in 1878 and As an indelible mark of his immense legacy, he redesigned the company's family monogram. In 1898 Isidora Goyenechea died and her son Luis Arturo inherited the vineyard, today the great-grandfather of the sixth Cousiño generation who heads the company.
International opening
At Cousiño Macul we privilege quality over quantity, and just like wine we are in no rush when it comes to creating a product of excellence. Therefore, it was no coincidence that the research and development work for the first export product took 60 years. After decades of exhaustive work, the first Antiguas Reservas was born from the best Cabernet Sauvignon of the 1927 harvest, which today continues to be produced faithful to its original emblematic style.
Milestones:
- 1994: launch of the first Premium Blend in Chile, Finis Terrae 1992 vintage, a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
- 1996: 300 hectares are purchased in the Paine area to replicate the Peñalolén vineyards. In order to maintain the unique identity of its vineyards, a vine greenhouse is built through the mass selection method.
- 2001: Production begins at the new plant in Paine.
- 2006: to commemorate its 150th anniversary, the vineyard launches Lota, a world-class wine that represents the best of Maipo, and that combines tradition, family history and the excellence that characterizes Cousiño Macul.
- 2015: RILES (Liquid Industrial Waste) plant installation, the first of its kind to arrive in Chile, which through a bacteria treatment, allows us to transform our RILES into irrigation water.
- 2019: relaunch of the brand with renewal of the corporate image.
- 2020: inauguration of the photovoltaic project located in the Peñalolén vineyard. The installation of these solar panels makes it possible to mitigate the annual emission of 200 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
