Some people have dreams and others actually make them a reality. Viña Meli is the dream-realized of celebrated winemaker Adriana Cerda and her son Eduardo Reinero. Together they have made delicious incarnations of Carignan and... Read More

Some people have dreams and others actually make them a reality. Viña Meli is the dream-realized of celebrated winemaker Adriana Cerda and her son Eduardo Reinero. Together they have made delicious incarnations of Carignan and Riesling from old vines and championed supporting independent winemakers throughout Chile.

Adriana has deep roots in the Chilean wine industry. Over her 30 year long career she made her mark by popularizing Carmenere as head winemaker for De Martino Family Wines. Her success in making wines for others gave her the confidence that she could be successful making her own. In 2005 she bought a property with 60-year old Carignan and Riesling vines in the Maule Valley. They began with 500 cases of Riesling in 2005 followed by their first Carignan bottling in 2007. Today they have ramped up production to roughly 2,000 cases.

Adriana’s son Eduardo has taken over much of the responsibility for the general management of Viña Meli wines while his mother continues to oversee the winemaking. Under his management, Viña Meli joined MOVI (Movimiento de Viñateros Independientes), the Chilean movement of independent vintners. MOVI was created from a practical standpoint to help small winemakers create a buying group to purchase bottles, corks, labels and other winemaking equipment in a country that is dominated by three massive winemaking entities. The movement has grown and become more visible with Viña Meli being an integral part of it.

Viña Meli is also part of another, smaller movement. VIGNO is a collaboration of small Chilean producers of old-vine Carignan. Twelve founding wineries create wines under the VIGNO label to bring attention to these historic vineyards and the astounding wines they create.