The Indiana Professor, the Santiago Oenologist & the Itata Hand
Rogue Vine is a collaboration between Justin Decker — a man from Indiana — and Leo Erazo — a man from Santiago — who met while teaching at the viticultural university in Itata. In 2014, they started making wines for themselves in a one-car garage from lesser-known varieties that were otherwise being blended away into cheap table wines. Located 400 kilometres south of Santiago in the Itata Valley — specifically the Nipas and Guarilihue subregions — Rogue Vine works with hillside, dry-farmed bush vines that are a minimum of 60 years old, with some older than 300 years. The soils are primarily granite with a mix of clay and quartz. All fruit is organic, hand-harvested, and purchased directly from three growers with whom they have maintained 10-year-plus relationships. The winemaking is hands-off: indigenous yeast, concrete globes, no temperature control, no corrections, and minimal sulfur only at bottling. The wines are unfined and unfiltered. The mission is not merely to make wine but to promote the rich culture and history of this long-neglected rural farming community — to prove that the most profound Chilean wines come not from the industrial Central Valley but from the forgotten hills of Itata.
The Professor, the Oenologist & the One-Car Garage Hand
Justin Decker is from Indiana. Leo Erazo is from Santiago. They met while teaching at the viticultural university in Itata — two men from opposite ends of the Americas, drawn together by a shared fascination with one of Chile's most overlooked wine valleys. In 2014, they decided to stop talking about wine and start making it. They found a one-car garage, sourced grapes from old bush vines that the large wineries were ignoring, and began producing wines from varieties that were otherwise being blended away into anonymous cheap table wine — Cinsault, País, Carignan, Moscatel, Semillon — varieties with centuries of history in Itata but no place in the modern Chilean export machine.
The decision to base their project in Itata was deliberate and defiant. While the world's attention was fixed on the irrigated, mechanised, flatland vineyards of the Central Valley — Maipo, Colchagua, Curicó — Justin and Leo looked south, to a valley that had been producing wine since the 1500s but had been systematically forgotten as the industry modernised. Itata is 400 kilometres from Santiago, far from the factories that produce Chile's export wines. It is a region of small family farms, dry-farmed bush vines, and granite hills — a place where the modern wine industry has never really arrived, and where the old ways have survived not by choice but by necessity.
From the very beginning, Rogue Vine's philosophy has been one of radical respect for the grower and the vineyard. They purchase fruit directly from three growers, all of whom they have worked with for over a decade. The fruit comes from the same plots every year, allowing Justin and Leo to develop an intimate understanding of each vineyard's character, vintage variation, and potential. This is not industrial grape-buying; it is a partnership built on trust, reciprocity, and a shared commitment to preserving Itata's viticultural heritage. The wines are made with indigenous yeast, no temperature control, no corrections, minimal sulfur at bottling only, and no fining or filtration — a hands-off approach that lets the vineyard speak. This is not winemaking as manipulation; it is winemaking as revelation.
"Rogue Vine offers a completely different side to Chilean wine. Their region of Itata is an old and nearly forgotten viticultural valley with old bush vines growing on pure granitic soils."
— Élevage Selections
Itata Valley, the Nipas Hills & the Granite Hand
The Itata Valley is one of Chile's oldest and most historic wine regions — the first vineyards were planted around 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.
Rogue Vine works with vineyards in two subregions: Nipas and Guarilihue. All are hillside, dry-farmed bush vines — gobelet-trained, own-rooted, and ungrafted because phylloxera never reached Chile. The vines are a minimum of 60 years old, with some exceeding 300 years — ancient, gnarled, deeply rooted sentinels of a viticultural past that the modern world has tried to erase. The soils are primarily granite with a mix of clay and quartz — poor, well-drained, and mineral-rich, forcing the vines to struggle and producing grapes of extraordinary concentration and terroir expression. The vineyards are worked entirely by hand or by horse — no tractors to compact the soil, no machinery to replace human care.
The viticulture of Itata lost its fame around the 1800s, as the industry shifted northward to the flatter, irrigable, mechanisable lands of the Central Valley. During this modernisation, Itata's farms got smaller and smaller — divided between families until many vineyards are now just 3 to 5 hectares. Today, the number of vineyards in Itata is constantly decreasing, threatened by an increasing pressure to plant pine trees and eucalyptus — monocultures that bring quick money but erase centuries of viticultural heritage. Despite this pressure, some vignerons remain loyal to the old ways: slow farming, low yields, working by hand, and producing wines of elegance and terroir. Rogue Vine is one of them — and perhaps the most vocal advocate for Itata's survival.
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 under constant threat from pine and eucalyptus plantations, and the number of vineyards is decreasing every year. For Rogue Vine, Itata is not just a place to make wine; it is a heritage to defend — a valley whose people, traditions, and ancient vines deserve to be elevated and protected.
Rogue Vine sources grapes from two distinct subregions of the Itata Valley: Nipas and Guarilihue. Nipas is known for its steep, granitic hillsides and old bush vines of Cinsault and País — vineyards that have been dry-farmed and hand-tended for generations. Guarilihue is home to some of the valley's most historic white grape vineyards, including old vines of Moscatel, Semillon, and Riesling dating back to the early 1920s. Both subregions share the same granite-based soils with clay and quartz, the same dry-farmed bush-vine viticulture, and the same threat from encroaching forestry. By working with the same growers in the same plots year after year, Justin and Leo have developed an intimate understanding of each subregion's character — and a deep commitment to ensuring both survive.
The vineyards Rogue Vine works with are among the oldest in Chile — a minimum of 60 years old, with many exceeding 300 years. 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 reach metres into the granitic subsoil. Because phylloxera never reached Chile, these vines grow on their own roots, expressing the terroir with a directness and purity that is impossible in grafted vineyards. The old vines produce tiny yields of intensely concentrated grapes — Cinsault with its floral elegance, País with its wild strawberry and herbal character, Carignan with its spicy depth, and Moscatel with its aromatic intensity. For Rogue Vine, these vines are not a resource to be exploited; they are a living archive, a connection to the past, and a promise for the future.
The soils at Rogue Vine's partner vineyards are primarily granite with a mix of clay and quartz — a composition that is both challenging and deeply expressive. The granite provides excellent drainage and a distinct mineral, stony character that runs through every wine. The clay retains water and nutrients, allowing the vines to survive the dry summers without irrigation while adding density and texture. The quartz contributes 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 Central Valley; it is the ancient, weathered granite of a valley that has been making wine for five centuries.
The Concrete Globe, the Indigenous Yeast & the Hands-Off Hand
Justin Decker and Leo Erazo's winemaking is defined by a single principle: get out of the way. The grapes arrive at the cellar from small family vineyards — hand-harvested, dry-farmed, and often transported in small crates by the growers themselves. Fermentation is carried out by indigenous yeasts — no commercial inoculation, no enzymes, no nutrients. The wines are fermented and aged in concrete globes — spherical concrete tanks that provide improved fermentation kinetics and natural temperature regulation — or in old oak barrels, often 8 to 15 years old, that add no wood character but provide a stable, neutral environment for ageing.
There is no temperature control in the winery — the wines ferment at their own pace, dictated by the ambient conditions of the Itata cellar and the natural rhythms of the vintage. There are no corrections — no acid adjustment, no colour correction, no de-alcoholisation, no reverse osmosis. The wines are unfined and unfiltered — clarity is achieved by settling and time alone. The only addition is a minimal dose of sulfur at bottling — enough to ensure stability for the journey from cellar to table, but not enough to mask the wine's natural character. The result is wine that is alive, honest, and deeply expressive of its place — wine that carries the imprint of the granite soils, the old vines, and the hands that tended them.
The portfolio is organised by variety, vineyard, and soil type — each wine is a specific expression of a specific place, not a blended approximation of a house style. The Pipeño Tinto is a field blend from a vineyard planted in the early 1800s. The Grand Itata Tinto comes from a single vineyard of Cinsault and País. The Macho Anciano is a single-vineyard Malbec from 80+ year-old vines on exposed granite bedrock. The Jamon Jamon was born by mistake — the press broke, forcing a skin-contact maceration of Moscatel that proved so delicious it became a permanent part of the range. This is not industrial winemaking; it is artisanal viticulture as discovery — a process of listening to the vines, trusting the grapes, and letting the granite do the talking.
The Concrete Globe & Hands-Off Covenant
The guiding principle of Rogue Vine's cellar is that the best wine is the one that needs the least intervention. The concrete globes — spherical concrete tanks — provide natural temperature regulation and improved fermentation kinetics without the need for artificial cooling or heating. The old oak barrels — 8 to 15 years old — are neutral vessels that allow the wine to age and integrate without adding wood flavour or tannin. 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 cellar, and in the granite hills of Nipas and Guarilihue. The absence of temperature control means each vintage is distinct, each wine is unique, and no two bottles are exactly alike. The absence of corrections, fining, and filtration keeps the wine's natural texture, colour, and aromatic complexity intact. And the minimal sulfur at bottling provides just enough protection without silencing the terroir. The cellar is a quiet, cool space where an Indiana professor and a Santiago oenologist let the Itata hills and the ancient vines do the talking.
Pipeño, Grand Itata, Macho Anciano & the Itata Hand
The Rogue Vine portfolio is diverse, place-specific, and entirely handmade — wines organised by variety, vineyard, and soil type, each one a distinct expression of a specific corner of the Itata Valley. The Pipeño Tinto is the classic — a field blend from a vineyard planted in the early 1800s. The Grand Itata Tinto and Blanco are the flagships — elegant, fresh, and deeply mineral. The Macho Anciano is the rare one — a single-vineyard Malbec from 80+ year-old vines, made only in the best vintages. The Insolente is the bold one — 100% Carignan from 70+ year-old vines with personality and strong character. The Jamon Jamon is the happy accident — a skin-contact Moscatel born from a broken press. All are made with indigenous yeasts, minimal sulfur, and no fining or filtration — wines that are honest, vibrant, and deeply expressive of their place.
The Itata Revolution, the Bush Vine Resistance & the Granite Hand
Rogue Vine is not merely a winery; it is a revolution realised — the story of how an Indiana professor and a Santiago oenologist, teaching at a viticultural university in a forgotten valley, built a project that gives voice to the oldest vines and most neglected community in Chilean wine. In an era when Chilean wine was defined by industrial scale, export volume, and the homogenisation of flavour, Justin Decker and Leo Erazo demonstrated that the most profound wines sometimes come from 60 to 300+ year-old dry-farmed bush vines on granite hillsides 400 kilometres south of Santiago, fermented in concrete globes with indigenous yeast, and bottled unfined, unfiltered, with minimal sulfur. It is largely thanks to projects like Rogue Vine that the Itata Valley, the Nipas and Guarilihue subregions, and southern Chilean viticulture now have a place in the global natural wine conversation. The same ancient vines that the industrial machine tried to erase have become, through their work, a source of some of the most honest, vibrant, and deeply place-driven wines in the country.
The legacy of Rogue Vine is the legacy of the resistant hand in Chilean viticulture. Justin and Leo are not typical Chilean winery founders: they are a professor and an oenologist who started in a one-car garage, who purchase fruit directly from three growers with 10-year-plus relationships, who work with vineyards that are a minimum of 60 years old and some over 300, who farm by hand and horse with no tractors, and who believe that the best wine is the one that needs the least intervention. They do not own vast estates. They do not chase volume. They do not chase trends. They make wines organised by variety, vineyard, and soil type — Pipeño from the early 1800s, Grand Itata from the 1960s, Macho Anciano from 80+ year-old Malbec, Jamon Jamon from a broken press — and they make them with the same curiosity and respect that defined their years teaching at the university. The minimal sulfur is not a compromise; it is a practical minimum that allows the wine to travel without masking its granite soul.
The future of the project is tied to the future of Itata itself — to the growing recognition that the best wines come not from the hottest, flattest, most irrigated valleys but from the most committed guardians of old vines, granite soils, and rural community. As the Pipeño Tinto continues to set the benchmark for authentic field blends in Chile, as the Grand Itata Blanco proves that old-vine Semillon, Riesling, and Moscatel can produce whites of world-class freshness and mineral precision, and as the Macho Anciano demonstrates that even Malbec can find a mineral, elegant home in the granite hills of Itata when treated with patience and respect, Justin Decker and Leo Erazo remain what they have always intended to be: teachers who became farmers — men who trusted the 300-year-old vines, the granite bedrock, and the hands of the Itata growers, and who built something enduring in the hills of Nipas and Guarilihue. The revolution is not finished. It is just beginning to ferment.
"Revolutionary wines point towards wine diversity. We want to make a different wine style. Wines with a strong sense of origin. Honest and authentic wines. Wines that reflects the uniqueness of the Itata Hills: freshness, natural acidity and low alcohols levels."
— Rogue Vine