Winemaker's Notes
Since the first Calicanto vintage in 2007, this blend of red grapes from Andetelmo Estate has distinguished itself by its fresh and fruity character, with spicy notes and silky, polished tannins.
Calicanto was named in honor of the first bridge built over the Mapocho River between 1767 and 1782, in the city of Santiago. Over time, this bridge was joined by various shops and stores, thus becoming one of the first centers of trade for Chilean wine. Like this first bridge, Calicanto symbolizes the union between tradition and modernity, and our commitment to producing wines of the highest quality that express the soul of the Chilean terroir through the French grape varieties planted in our vineyards.
History
Viña El Principal was founded in 1993 by partners Jorge Fontaine Aldunate, owner of Hacienda El Principal, and Jean Paul Valette, French winemaker and former owner of the famous Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Pavie in Saint-Émilion.
Their main objective was to produce a line of wines of the highest quality that would reflect both the spirit and typicality of the Chilean terroir, as well as the tradition and experience of the Valette family in the production of fine wines. The terroir of El Principal, located at the foot of the Andes Mountains in the Maipo Andes Valley (DO Maipo Andes) was the perfect place for their project; its particular combination of climate, soils and altitude allowed for the production of wines with character, a sense of origin and extraordinary quality.
The partners selected 54 hectares of the property to plant the Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere varieties. Six years later, the first vintage of “El Principal” (1999), the winery’s iconic blend, was successfully launched onto the market, being internationally recognized as one of Chile’s Ultra Premium wines and confirming Chile’s potential as a designation of origin for luxury wines.
In 2005, German businessman and shipowner Jochen Döhle purchased the entire vineyard and then partnered with the renowned Chilean family Said Handal, which acquired 50 percent of its property in 2013.
At the end of 2018, the Said Handal family decided to acquire the entire operation and thus implement a growth plan that will allow the vineyard to move on to a new stage of viticultural, oenological and commercial development, consolidating the excellent work in the production and sale of wines carried out with the help of Döhle.
