Bouchon and Bisquertt sold to Undurraga

In one of the biggest brand buy outs this decade, Viña Undurraga has bought Viña Bouchon and Viña Bisquertt in a deal signed last week. Amanda Barnes reports.

Negotiations started in April for the acquisition of VFC wines — the holding company which Viña Bouchon and Viña Bisquertt both belong to. The purchase results in Viña Undurraga increasing their total production by 15%, and will put Head Winemaker Rafael Urrejola now overseeing the brands of Undurraga, Volcanes de Chile, Bouchon and Bisquertt which will fall into the newly formed ‘Undurraga Wine Group’.

“This integration marks the start of a new and exciting era for us,” said Viña Undurrraga CEO Andrés Izquierdo. “It will not only allow us to strengthen our presence in the global market, but grow and diversify our offer in high quality wines.”

Over the past decade, Viña Bouchon in particular has grown in reputation with an impressive clutch of awards and critical recognitions for its wines from the old vine heartland of Maule, as well as notable acclaim for winemaker Christian Sepulveda. In particular, the winery is credited for highlighting the quality potential of old vine Semillon, Carignan and País in the region.

Identity

“Since 2014, we have made a very important structural change to the wines and style of Bouchon,” Julio Bouchon, who was the second generation to take the reins of the family winery with his brother Juan Bouchon, told the drinks business.

“Our focus stopped being on making the typical export wines, but in making wines with the identity of dry-farmed Maule.”

This transformation included becoming an integral part of the Vigno association and resulted in working with many small growers of old vines in Maule. Since 2018, Bouchon formed an association with Bisquertt in order to amplify their global reach, a growth which they achieved despite the challenging pandemic years.

Proud

“We are proud that a winery like Undurraga has sought us out and wanted to purchase our brands,” added Julio Bouchon. The sales deal included the brands of both wineries, however the Bouchon family remain owners of their vineyards, winery and hotel in Mingre — which will now be used for the growing production of Longaví.

Longaví wines remains in the hands of Julio Bouchon and winemaker Christian Sepulveda, who are partners in the project, alongside Juan Bouchon and South African winemaker David Niewoudt.

“We will now be focusing on making Longavi one of the great references of fine Chilean wine.”

Amanda Barnes is the drinks business´ regular South America correspondent and author of The South America Wine Guide.