Napa-based Huneeus Vintners has added to its portfolio of Chilean wines with the acquisition of Neyen Estate, located in the prime red wine enclave of the Apalta Valley.
The two producers hailed the merger as creating ‘one of Chile’s strongest premium wine companies’, under the management of Huneeus-owned Veramonte, based in the country’s Casablanca Valley.
Neyen owner Raul Rojas bought the property in 1970, including more than 70 acres of Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon plantings from 1890, expanding the vineyards to 480 acres and opening a new gravity-fed winery in 2002.
Its Neyen Cabernet-Carmenère blend, first released internationally in 2005, has received good reviews and high scores in the US.
‘The beautiful Neyen property is one of a kind,’ said Agustin Huneeus. ‘Like Quintessa in Rutherford and Flowers Vineyard and Winery in the extreme Sonoma Coast [other Huneeus properties], Neyen is a unique estate that produces wines that reflect its place.’
Huneeus said Neyen would continue to focus on its flagship Carmenère blend, making use of Huneeus Vintners’ international sales and distribution network.
Rojas said the merger meant that ‘we have found a family with the kind of history, vision and the resources to take Neyen to the next level’.
Huneeus founded Veramonte in 1990, and the company now has more than 1,000 acres of land in the Casablanca Valley, plus 240 acres in the Marchigue area of the Colchagua Valley.
Flagship wines include the Primus red blend from Colchagua, and Ritual Pinot Noir from the Casablanca Valley.
Written by Richard Woodard
