Agricola Luyt - 'Carrizal' - Moscatel, Chasselas, Semillon, Torontel - Maule Valley, CL - 2025

Satellite's Hot Take

Brilliant wine! So alive and energetic. Like sunshine quenched in citrus

Notes from the Winery/Importer

Farming: Organic (not certified) Vine Age: 100–200 years Soils: Sand and clay Fining/Filtration: Light, non-sterile filtration at bottling SO₂: Added after fermentation for transport, during cellar racking, and at bottling

Winemaking:
The fruit is harvested by hand and manually destemmed using a zaranda, a traditional mat used to separate the berries from the stems. The wine undergoes a three-week spontaneous fermentation and maceration with indigenous yeasts in open wooden lagares at the vineyard site.

It is then racked into wooden tanks called pipas—hence “Pipeño”—or stainless-steel tanks for transport to the bottling facility. Shortly after fermentation, the wine is lightly filtered and bottled for release in a fresh, primeur style.

SO₂ additions are minimal: 0.5 g/hL after fermentation for transport, 0.5 g/hL during cellar racking, and 1–2 g/hL at bottling.

Fun Facts:
Traditionally made for immediate consumption, Pipeño was once used disparagingly to mean “peasant wine” and is most commonly associated with the País grape. Louis-Antoine has helped reclaim the term by highlighting distinctive terroirs and the farmers who tend them.

Each one-liter bottle bears the name of a subregion and contains either purchased fruit vinified by Louis-Antoine or finished wine made by the grower.

For Carrizal, farmer Ernesto Soto tends organic, dry-farmed bush vines ranging from 100 to 200 years old. The vines grow in sandy clay soils rich in decomposed granite in the Carrizal subzone of the small Itata wine region.

Notes on the Producer

Louis-Antoine Luyt
I travelled all around to talk to landowners, and they told me they never produced for themselves, partly because they could not compete with the prices of cooperatives. So, they were obliged to sell their grapes. The more I got to know, the more dedicated I became to fight for the independent viticulture. To protect the old vineyards from getting torn out. Especially, the nearly forgotten and highly neglected ‘País’ vines.
I was told it was impossible to make good wine out of it. And I shouldn't even think about being able to sell them. My thought was: ‘challenge accepted…’
I went to Beaune to study oenology, where I met Matthieu Lapierre and many other likeminded spirits. I did my internship at Domaine Marcel Lapierre and learned about making wine that respects the land, nature, tradition, is made with minimal intervention in the cellar, and breaks away from the conventional along the way. This is exactly what I wanted to bring back to Chile. And so, in 2006, with the support of my cousin Matthieu de Genevraye who believed in my mission, I did.
My main objective was to safe the old vineyards and to create good wines made from native varieties. To motivate landowners to take a chance, to abandon the construction of selling their fruit in favour of making their own wines with me. Creating communities that assured the family, while developing wines respectfully made. Collaborating with them, building a lasting relationship that was fuelled by curiosity and excitement. Reinvigorating a culture that was on its way to cease to exist.
In turn, I wanted to share with them my traditions, so I started teaching them the Beaujolais method and they taught me ancient Chilean vinification. Still, to this day we make wines in both manners, so you can taste and experience both of our roots and traditions.

Grapes & Style

Semillon

Sémillon is a major Bordeaux white grape and one of the great grapes for both dry and sweet wine. In Bordeaux it’s often blended with Sauvignon Blanc, while in Sauternes and Barsac it forms the backbone of some of the world’s most famous botrytized sweet wines. Australia’s Hunter Valley has also built a singular dry, ageworthy style around it.

In the vineyard, Sémillon has relatively thin skins and can be susceptible to botrytis, which is either a problem or a gift depending on the wine being made. It usually has moderate acidity and a broad texture, so blending with Sauvignon Blanc can add lift, while careful dry examples rely on restraint and balance.

In the glass, Sémillon can show lemon, fig, pear, lanolin, beeswax, herbs, and toast with age. Young dry versions can be quiet and citrusy, but the best bottles develop remarkable savory, honeyed, and waxy complexity over time.