Santa Ema

A Chilean success story - Santa Ema

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Italian immigrant Pedro Pavone Voglino discovered a piece of land in Isla de Maipo in Chile, which would later become the basis for Santa Ema. His son Félix finally founded the estate in 1956 and bought the necessary equipment to bottle and sell their own wines.

Today, the third and fourth generations of the family export to 30 countries. The core values of the family, which still runs the estate today, are:

• Commitment
• Quality
• Respect
• Honesty
• Responsibility

This means that Santa Ema is committed to the sustainable production of wines, with respect for its employees and the environment, in order to create a long-lasting, sustainable business. Santa Ema still sees itself as a family winery with a close relationship with its customers.

The Maipo Valley in all its diversity

Today Santa Ema has 3 vineyards in different terroirs:

Cerro Blanco (white hill) is located in a mountainous area at an altitude of 1000 meters above sea level. The name comes from the very calcareous soils, which are supplied by the river Maipo, which washes the lime into the area. Due to its altitude, the daily temperatures here vary greatly. 112 hectares are cultivated on this vineyard with red grapes, the best red wines of Santa Ema come from this vineyard. 

Besides, there is El Peral with 45 hectares, located at the Maipo River. Due to its proximity to the water, it is often misty here, which ensures good humidification of the vineyard. The soils are of alluvial origin and rather rocky, suitable for both red and white grapes. The wines from this vineyard are very fruity, the Gran Reserva Merlot of Santa Ema is produced from grapes of El Peral. Besides, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are planted.

Leady Estate, on the other hand, is only 10 km away from the Pacific coast, which means that it is strongly influenced by the maritime climate. The average temperatures are around 25° C, with a lot of sun and cooling wind from the sea. Thus, the grapes ripen more slowly here, the wine of Leyda has mineral quality. Accordingly, it is best suited for fresh white wines, but also complex red wines can be produced from the grapes of this vineyard.

The headquarters with the cellar is located on El Peral. The ultra-modern winery building was designed in accordance with the sustainability credo, so a lot of natural light and thermal insulation was used to reduce the energy requirements of the air conditioning. In the cellar there are about 3700 oak barrels made of American, French and Hungarian wood.