The Abruzzo Émigré, the Old Clay Pots & the Itata Hand
De Martino is a fourth-generation Italian-Chilean family winery founded in 1934 by Pietro De Martino Pascualone, an immigrant from Abruzzo, Italy, who settled in Isla de Maipo. For decades, the family produced wines in the modern, globalised style — high-alcohol, over-extracted, oak-heavy. But in 2011, the fourth generation — brothers Marco Antonio and Sebastián De Martino — made a radical decision: they would shift down two gears, return to their grandfather's methods of early picking, large botti, and sensible alcohol levels around 13%, and begin a journey back to authenticity, balance, and terroir. The Viejas Tinajas line is the purest expression of this revolution — wines made in 60 to 200+ year-old clay amphorae sourced from across southern Chile, using indigenous yeasts, semi-carbonic maceration, and minimal intervention. Working with 200 to 300-year-old vines in the Itata Valley — País, Cinsault, Muscat, and San Francisco — grown on granitic soils and dry-farmed without irrigation, De Martino has become one of the most important voices in the revival of Chile's ancient southern vineyards. The wines are unfiltered, unfined, with wild yeast ferments and no acid adjustment — a testament to the family's conviction that the best wine is the one that presents the landscape.
The Abruzzo Vigneron, the 2011 Revolution & the De Martino Hand
Pietro De Martino Pascualone arrived in Chile from Abruzzo, Italy in 1934 with a dream: to find a place as unique as the wines he imagined making. He settled in Isla de Maipo, a cooler part of the Maipo Valley with deep, free-draining gravel soils, and founded the family winery that would bear his name. For three generations, the De Martinos made wine in the Italian tradition — Pietro's grandfather used large botti and kept alcohol levels around 13.5%. But the third generation — Pietro's parents — discovered small French oak barrels and began making more extracted, higher-alcohol wines. By the early 2000s, the wines had reached 14.5% alcohol, over-extracted and undrinkable. At a family lunch in 2005, Pietro's grandfather asked a devastating question: "Can anyone drink this?"
The answer was no. And so, in 2011, the fourth generation — brothers Marco Antonio and Sebastián De Martino — decided to change everything. With their forward-thinking winemaker Marcelo Retamal, they shifted down two gears: early picking, large botti again, gentle extraction, and a house style built on harmony, balance, and length rather than opulence. Their parents had turned the old botti into furniture, so they had to buy new ones. They stopped making wines for the market and started making wines they actually wanted to drink. And they turned their gaze south — to the Itata Valley, where they purchased an old vineyard in 2013 and discovered vines that were 200 to 300 years old, growing on granite, looking more like trees than vines.
The Viejas Tinajas project was born from this revolution. The brothers began sourcing old clay amphorae — tinajas — from across southern Chile, vessels that were 60 to 200+ years old, each with its own personality, its own shape, its own history. They sealed them with clay, filled them with grapes from ancient vines, and stepped back. The result was a line of wines — Cinsault and Muscat — that were unlike anything Chile had produced before: light, unfiltered, earthy, and alive, with delicate base notes and floral aromatics that spoke of the amphora, the granite, and the centuries. This was not industrial winemaking; it was a family returning to its roots — Italian, Chilean, and ancient.
"We weren't enjoying the wines, so we said, what do we like? We are picking the grapes too late. We like wines harmonious and balanced with length rather than opulence."
— Sebastián De Martino, 2011 Revolution
Itata Valley, the Granite Hills & the 300-Year Hand
The Itata Valley is one of Chile's oldest wine regions — the first vineyards were planted in the 1500s near the bay of Concepción, very close to the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish chose this region because the granite soil allowed vines to survive without irrigation — a characteristic that defines Itata viticulture to this day. Even now, the valley is primarily composed of dry-farmed bush vines, small family plots worked by hand and horse, with none of the irrigation, trellising, or mechanisation that characterises the modern Chilean wine industry. Itata is 400 kilometres south of Santiago — far from the Central Valley factories, far from the export infrastructure, far from the global wine market's gaze.
De Martino purchased their Itata vineyard in 2013 — a plot of 2,500 vines of País and San Francisco (also known as Negramoll), own-rooted and ungrafted because phylloxera never reached Chile. These vines are 200 to 300 years old — ancient, gnarled, deeply rooted sentinels of a viticultural past that the modern world has tried to erase. They look more like trees than vines, with thick, twisted trunks and sprawling canopies that have survived centuries of drought, frost, and neglect. The soils are granitic — poor, well-drained, and mineral-rich — formed by Chile's coastal mountains and perfectly suited to the dry-farmed, head-trained viticulture that defines the Secano Interior. The vineyard is located in Guarilihue, a subregion of Itata known for its steep, granitic hillsides and old bush vines.
The De Martino family also works with old vineyards across seven regions of Chile — Maipo, Itata, Cachapoal, Maule, Limarí, Casablanca, and Malleco — but it is Itata that holds their heart. Here, they cultivate Cinsault, Muscat, and País on granite soils, while in other regions they work with Carménère, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Carignan, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Semillón, Sauvignon Blanc, and Corinto. The Itata vineyard is not just a source of grapes; it is a living archive of Chilean viticultural history — a place where the past is still present in every twisted trunk and every granitic stone. For the De Martino family, Itata is the soul of their revolution — the place that proved that the best wines come not from the newest technology but from the oldest vines.
Itata is one of Chile's oldest wine valleys, with a viticultural history stretching back to the 16th century. Located roughly 400 kilometres south of Santiago, it was the first region planted by Spanish settlers — chosen specifically because the granite soils allowed vines to survive without irrigation. For centuries, Itata was the centre of Chilean wine production. But as the industry industrialised and moved north to the Central Valley, Itata was left behind — forgotten by the export market, ignored by the tourism industry, and preserved only by the families who refused to abandon their vines. Today, Itata is experiencing a renaissance, driven by producers like De Martino who recognise that the valley's ancient, ungrafted, dry-farmed vines are not a relic but a treasure. For the De Martino family, Itata is not just a place to make wine; it is the proof of their revolution — a valley whose 300-year-old vines vindicated their decision to turn away from the modern style and return to authenticity.
Guarilihue is a subregion of the Itata Valley where De Martino's most important southern vineyard is located. It is a landscape of steep, granitic hillsides, ancient bush vines, and small family farms that have worked the land for generations without irrigation or chemicals. The climate is cool and Mediterranean-influenced, with warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters — ideal for slow ripening, high natural acidity, and wines of real freshness and vitality. The granite soils with quartz inclusions provide excellent drainage and a distinct mineral, stony character that runs through every wine. For De Martino, Guarilihue is the heart of their Itata project — the place where their 200-300 year-old País and San Francisco vines grow, where their Las Olvidadas and Gallardia wines are born, and where the future of Chilean old-vine wine is being written.
The De Martino Itata vineyard contains some of the oldest grapevines in the world — 2,500 vines of País and San Francisco that are 200 to 300 years old. These are not the neat, trellised rows of the modern vineyard; they are bush vines, head-trained, with thick, gnarled trunks and deep root systems that look more like trees than vines. Because phylloxera never reached Chile, these vines grow on their own roots, expressing the granitic terroir with a directness and purity that is impossible in grafted vineyards. The old vines produce tiny yields of intensely concentrated grapes — País with its wild strawberry and herbal character, San Francisco (Negramoll) with its dark, spicy depth. For De Martino, these vines are not a resource to be exploited; they are a living archive, a connection to the past, and the vindication of their 2011 revolution. By purchasing this vineyard in 2013, the family ensured that these ancient vines would survive for another century.
The soils at De Martino's Itata vineyard are granitic — a composition formed by Chile's coastal mountains that is both challenging and deeply expressive. The granite provides excellent drainage and a distinct mineral, stony character that runs through every wine. The quartz inclusions add brightness, acidity, and a crystalline clarity to the wines' aromatics. Together, these soils create a terroir that is unmistakably Itata: poor, rocky, and demanding, but capable of producing wines of extraordinary freshness, natural acidity, and low alcohol. This is not the fertile alluvium of the irrigated valley floor; it is the ancient, weathered granite of a valley that has been making wine for five centuries. The Spanish chose Itata for this very reason — the granite soils allowed vines to survive without irrigation — and De Martino honours that choice by dry-farming their old vines to this day.
The Clay Amphora, the Carbonic Maceration & the Hands-Off Hand
The Viejas Tinajas line is made in old clay amphorae — tinajas — sourced from across southern Chile, each one 60 to 200+ years old, each one a unique shape and size, ranging from 250 to 1,000 litres. These are not modern vessels chosen for fashion; they are traditional Chilean containers that have been used in the south for centuries, imparting a gentle, earthy, textural quality that is unmistakably local. The amphorae are sealed with clay, and the winemaking is deliberately hands-off: apart from occasional tasting to see how things are coming along, there is really nothing the winemaker can do. The clay, the yeast, and the grape do the work.
For the Cinsault, the grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed, then placed into the amphorae where they undergo a semi-carbonic-style spontaneous alcoholic fermentation for 15 days — whole berries fermenting in a carbon dioxide-rich environment, extracting colour and fruit without harsh tannins. The wine then spends 3 to 4 weeks on the skins before being pressed and aged. For the Muscat, the technique is even more radical: the grapes undergo 6 to 7 months of skin contact in the amphorae, transforming the white grape into a golden-orange wine of extraordinary depth, texture, and tannic structure. The only addition of sulphur is a small amount before bottling — the long skin contact and natural acidity provide most of the protection the wine needs.
Throughout the entire process, indigenous yeasts are used, and no acidity is adjusted. The wines are unfiltered and unfined — clarity is achieved by settling and time alone. The amphorae are stored in a large, bare warehouse just south of Santiago, where a pair of small fan-heaters are the only concession to temperature regulation. The result is wine that is alive, honest, and deeply expressive of its place — wine that carries the imprint of the granite soils, the 300-year-old vines, the century-old clay pots, and the patient hand of a family that learned the hard way that less is more. The Viejas Tinajas wines are not polished, commercial products; they are windows into the ancient soul of Chilean viticulture — light, unfiltered, with delicate earthy base notes and floral aromatics that speak of a different time.
The Amphora & Carbonic Covenant
The guiding principle of the Viejas Tinajas line is that the best wine is the one that needs the least intervention. The old clay amphorae — 60 to 200+ years old, each with its own personality — allow for gentle oxygen exchange and a distinct earthy, mineral quality that is impossible to achieve in steel or new oak. The semi-carbonic maceration for the Cinsault extracts bright, fruity flavours without harsh tannins, while the 6-7 months of skin contact for the Muscat transforms a white grape into a deep orange, textured wine of real complexity. The indigenous yeasts capture the microbial fingerprint of the Itata Valley — the wild yeasts that live on the skins of 300-year-old vines, in the air of the southern cellar, and in the granitic soils of Guarilihue. The absence of temperature control means each vintage is distinct, each amphora is unique, and no two bottles are exactly alike. The absence of acid adjustment, fining, and filtration keeps the wine's natural texture, colour, and aromatic complexity intact. And the minimal sulfur before bottling provides just enough protection without silencing the terroir. The warehouse is a quiet, cool space where an Italian-Chilean family lets the old clay pots and the ancient vines do the talking.
Viejas Tinajas Cinsault, Viejas Tinajas Muscat & the Itata Hand
The Viejas Tinajas portfolio is small, focused, and entirely handmade — just two wines from the Itata Valley, each one fermented in 60-200+ year-old clay amphorae with indigenous yeasts and minimal intervention. The Cinsault is the red — a light, vibrant, semi-carbonic wine of wild berries and herbs. The Muscat is the orange — a skin-contact white of extraordinary texture, floral aromatics, and golden-amber beauty. Both are unfiltered, unfined, and made without acid adjustment — wines that are rustic, lively, and deeply expressive of the ancient granite soils and the century-old clay pots that shaped them. Alongside these, De Martino produces Las Olvidadas — a field blend of País and San Francisco from 200-300 year-old vines — and Gallardia — old-vine Cinsault and a white field blend of Muscat and Chasselas from 1905 — all part of the family's broader commitment to Chile's forgotten southern heritage.
The 2011 Revolution, the Ancient Pots & the Itata Hand
De Martino is not merely a winery; it is a revolution realised — the story of how an Italian immigrant family, after nearly 80 years of making wine, looked at their own bottles in 2005 and asked "can anyone drink this?" — and then, in 2011, changed everything. In an era when Chilean wine was defined by industrial scale, export volume, and the homogenisation of flavour, the fourth generation — Marco Antonio and Sebastián De Martino — demonstrated that the most profound wines sometimes come from 200-300 year-old vines on granite hillsides 400 kilometres south of Santiago, fermented in 60-200+ year-old clay amphorae with indigenous yeast, and bottled unfiltered, unfined, with no acid adjustment. It is largely thanks to projects like Viejas Tinajas that the Itata Valley, old-vine Cinsault and Muscat, and clay-amphora winemaking now have a place in the global natural wine conversation. The same ancient vines and old clay pots that the modern industry ignored have become, through the De Martino family's work, a source of some of the most honest, vibrant, and deeply place-driven wines in Chile.
The legacy of De Martino is the legacy of the courageous hand in Chilean viticulture. The family is not a typical Chilean winery: they are fourth-generation descendants of an Abruzzo émigré, who in 1996 became the first Chilean winery to bottle and label a Carménère, who in 2011 turned their back on the globalised style and returned to their grandfather's methods of early picking and large botti, who purchased a vineyard in Itata in 2013 and discovered 200-300 year-old vines, and who believe that the best wine is the one that presents the landscape with honesty and balance. They produce 1.7 million bottles per year across seven regions, but it is the tiny Viejas Tinajas line — Cinsault and Muscat from old clay amphorae — that captures their soul. The old amphorae are not a gimmick; they are a philosophical stance that allows the wine to remain honest, unmanipulated, and deeply connected to the oldest traditions of southern Chile.
The future of the project is tied to the future of the Itata Valley, the old vines that still survive, and the clay amphorae that still hold wine — to the growing recognition that the best wines come not from the newest technology but from the most committed guardians of ancient vines, traditional vessels, and patient balance. As the Viejas Tinajas Cinsault continues to set the benchmark for amphora-fermented red wine in Chile, as the Viejas Tinajas Muscat proves that even the most aromatic white grape can produce wines of world-class texture and complexity through 6-7 months of skin contact in century-old clay, and as Las Olvidadas demonstrates that País from 300-year-old vines can achieve the grandeur of Barolo when treated with respect, the De Martino family remains what they have always intended to be: guardians of an Italian-Chilean legacy — a family who trusted the old vines, the granitic soil, the clay amphorae, and the patient hand of time, and who built something enduring in the hills of Isla de Maipo and Itata. The revolution is not finished. It is just beginning to ferment.
"We just make the wines we like. We are presenting our landscape and chasing harmony and balance."
— Sebastián De Martino, De Martino