Marcelo Retamal

Coming Up

At Viña De Martino in Isla de Maipo, Chile (until 2021), the work of winemaking under Marcelo Retamal would have meant steady attention to vineyard and cellar detail, with no room for shortcuts. In parallel, his role as socio at Viñedos de Alcohuaz in Valle de Elqui, Chile placed him across two distinct Chilean landscapes, a position that sharpened a practice built on reading site, season, and timing closely. That approach now carries through RETA, where Retamal is founder / winemaker, and through his work as asesor enológico of Top Wine Group / Viña Sutil (since 2024). The titles differ, but the method stays consistent: measure the vineyard as it is, work to its pace, and keep the hand light when the fruit does not ask for more.

Where They Are Now

Las Cruces shows the kind of vineyard judgment Marcelo Retamal relies on: one variety can be ready while another is still behind. “It's tricky [to work the Las Cruces vineyard] because Malbec can be ready when the Carmenère is still green.” The point is practical, not ornamental; ripeness has to be tracked variety by variety, and balance depends on knowing when each component is ready to move. The response is just as practical. “So what we do is pick the Malbec when it is dry, just before it gets overripe or shriveled, so that the Carmenère is ripe too.” That kind of decision-making keeps the work tied to the vineyard’s own timing, with the final wine shaped by restraint, sequence, and attention to condition.

Signature

Las Cruces Single Vineyard Old Bush Vines Cachapoal Valley 2006 is the clearest example of the terrain Retamal works with: a single vineyard, old bush vines, and Cachapoal Valley 2006 stated without garnish. The bottle reads as a direct record of site-driven winemaking.

In Their Words “So what we do is pick the Malbec when it is dry, just before it gets overripe or shriveled, so that the Carmenère is ripe too.” “When these vineyards were planted, maybe 100 years ago, they weren't planted with just one variety. They were field blends.”

Honors

No awards are cited for Retamal.