Chilean winery Viña Bouchon rebrands as “Bouchon Family Wines” and unveils updated portfolio with a new look.

“A winery without a past is like a wine without character. But it also needs a future.”

Viña Bouchon is a family owned winery headed up by winemaker Julio Bouchon and his children to produce premium wines made only with grapes from their own estates from the coastal dry lands of the Maule Valley in Chile.

The Bouchon winemaking story began in 1887 when Emile Bouchon settled in the Colchagua Valley in Chile having moved over from his native Saint Emilion in Bordeaux.

Today Julio Bouchon Senior and his children continue this long tradition of winemaking, with an updated look and feel.

In 2015 Viña Bouchon rebrands as “Bouchon Family Wines”, highlighting the Bouchon family’s heritage combined with a forward thinking attitude that aims to bridge past and future generations in both wine style and design. Above all else the Bouchon family values tradition and wine identity as paramount in their continued vinous legacy.

 The new portfolio includes the current Reserva wines now branded under the label “J. Bouchon”. The Reserva Especial range will be renamed as “Block Series”. Bouchon’s flagship wine Mingre, from the Mingre Estate also sees an updated look, in addition to the new “Longaví” range of wines - a recently launched joint venture of three wines made in conjunction with winemaker David Nieuwoudt from Cederberg private cellars in South Africa.

President of the company and Winemaker Julio Bouchon Sr said: “as a family we have been making wines for almost 130 years and so this is a very special time for us: a new departure from where we have been until now. Together with my children I want to share our new image that conveys the family tradition with a fresh and modern look”.

General Manager Juan José Bouchon explains “the new image and portfolio is not only for marketing and commercial reasons but also our desire to separate the different viticulture projects, something that we wish to accentuate through the varieties, blends and concepts”.

Current Managing Director Julio Bouchon Junior, comments on this new chapter for Bouchon:

Why now?

“We felt that Bouchon needed a new look and taste for the moment in which we are living. We have a new team: my brother Juan has joined my father and I to work on this new life project together, and we have also appointed Felipe Ramirez as chief winemaker – he’s very passionate, young and enthusiastic for his craft and has winemaking experience from all over the world, most recently at Viña Carmen.”

What does the new style mean?

The new image communicates our family traditions that began with deep roots in the coastal dry lands of Maule in 1887, combined with a more attractive, modern look to show our beginnings and our future aspirations of continued dynamic winemaking. I hope we got it right.

First, we went back to our roots as winemakers: the new logos show an old Pais (mission) vine and grapes, typical of the Maule Valley. We chose a vine from Block 30 on the Mingre estate, which is dry-farmed and it is 100 years old. This summarises our past of heritage and tradition. But, at the same time we the future, the fourth generation of Bouchon is working hard, exploring new things, tasting new blends and creating new wines.

How do you hope this will change/enhance the perception of Bouchon wines in the UK/elsewhere?

We believe people want to know exactly where the wine comes from and the faces behind it. This is Bouchon: family and terroir, a story born in France in the XIX century and then continued generation after generation in Chile’s Maule Valley. With these new labels we can now tell our story better - an essential part of who we are as winemakers.

Does this have any significance for how Chile is looking to rebrand/improve itself as a wine-making country in general?

It is very important. We have to narrate our story abroad. I strongly believe in the potential of Chilean wines. We have great product inside our bottles and it’s now our job to communicate the quality of it too. People are beginning to recognize what Chile is capable of, more and more. I am quite optimistic for the future.

THE WINES

J. Bouchon (Reserva)

J. Bouchon Reserva was conceived to capture the best of the Maule valley with expressive, pleasant wines. This line is produced using select grapes from our vineyards at Santa Rosa, Las Mercedes and Mingre. With J. Bouchon Reserva we are committed to creating a consistently high-quality wine that can be trusted each time a bottle is opened over the years.

Block Series

The Block Series is all about terroir. Each wine in this collection starts from carefully selected grapes from parcels of less than two hectares in an ef­fort to capture the essence of its origins. We work our vines lovingly, har­vesting small batches no larger than 8,000 kilos per hectare in order to maintain a higher concentration of colour and structure. Barrel-aging is used in the production of the J. Bouchon block series without affecting the wines’ fruit notes, and the results are both fresh and complex.

Mingre

Mingre is pure elegance. Each varietal in this blend lends a unique element to build a complex, balanced wine. Grapes are gathered from carefully selected parcels on the Mingre estate, which produces our finest wines. We produce this wine with ded­ication and care, using grapes that have been hand-selected and harvested at less than 4,000 kilos per hectare to ensure the colouring that will withstand 14 to 18 month of aging in French oak barrels after fermentation.

THE WINEMAKER

Newly appointed Felipe Remirez studied Enology at the Universidad Católica de Chile before earning his Masters of Science from the Agricultural School of Montpellier (ENSAM). He has interned in Montpellier as well as in Bordeaux and has worked across renowned wineries and vineyards in Alsace, Bordeaux, Cotes du Rhone, California and Oregon. After heading up various projects in Chile, he joined the Bouchon team in 2014 as Chief Winemaker. His most recent project was at: Carmen Nativa, an organic project from Viña Carmen.

  

The wines will be available in their new packaging from the end of February 2015.

Bancroft is Bouchon's exclusive importer within the UK.