Investment to improve quality has been a major objective since 2002.

Significant new projects have been initiated at Puquillay in the Colchagua Valley; the goal is to continuously raise the quality of Luis Felipe Edwards wines.

LFE900

The bold LFE900 project at Puquillay in the Colchagua Valley has transformed the steep arid mountain tops that surround our Puquillay estate into a patchwork of high quality vineyards, retaining much of the surrounding natural vegetation and, through the increased presence of water, increasing biodiversity in the process.

 The vineyards were planted from 500 meters to almost 900 meters above sea level, hence the name LFE900.  Those above 750 meters are the highest commercial plantings in the Colchagua Valley.  Major capital investment was needed to overcome the challenge of pumping irrigation water up 700 meters from the valley floor.  Our engineers had to lay 3,500 meters of supply pipes passing through 8 pumping stations, and finally 25 km of drip-irrigation piping to water each vine plant individually!

Thanks to their altitude the average summer temperatures of the LFE900 vineyards are 2-3º Centigrade lower than those of the valley floor below.  But the sunlight levels are the same or higher which leads to remarkable improvements in the quality of the grapes produced.

10 grape varieties, almost exclusively red, were planted: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Carmenere, Merlot, Malbec, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, Grenache Noir and Viognier.

The varied topography and mixture of soil types encountered meant that significant investment in infrared mapping was required to select the right variety, clone and rootstock combination for each individual location.

The variety and differences in soils, gradients and exposures is a major benefit: careful blending produces wines of outstanding complexity.