Flaherty Wines

It’s official: We’re buying vineyard land in Cauquenes! Ed made an offer on one of the properties he’s been viewing, and the offer was accepted. The offer was based on a price per hectare, so we had a surveyor come out to measure the land. The property had been estimated at around ten hectares, but the surveyor set it at 13.3 (that’s 32.5 acres). It’s not all suitable for planting. A seasonal creek runs through the bottom part, and it gets pretty boggy down there in the winter and spring. There’s also a grove of old-growth espinos (thorn trees—the local mesquite), which is home to a pair of burrowing owls. We’ll probably be able to plant about half the property—probably tempranillo, syrah, maybe malbec—and there’s a hectare or so of hundred-year-old vines of pais (mission), which we’ll graft over to carignan.
While Ed was there, he spoke to one of the owners of another property nearby. Someone has made an offer, but if the sale falls through we’ll match that offer. Fingers crossed—it’s a beautiful piece of land which is mostly on a hillside. Not very practical for planting, but it would be wonderful to include as part of our project.