Clos des Fous
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Country of Origin: Chile
Location: Southern Regions, Chile
People: Paco Leytron, Owner | Felipe Cartes, Winemaker
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Clos des Fous was founded in 2008 by partners Paco Leyton, Francois Massoc, Pedro Parra, and Albert Cussen. Their goal was to explore the varied terroirs of Chile and show the world that Chile has more to offer than industrial, green, and overripe wines. Clos des Fous’ philosophy is to produce wines with tension, from grapes grown in extreme terroir, with minimal intervention in the winery. Clos des Fous owns and manages vineyards in Malleco, Guarilihue, Alto Cahapoal, and Western Aconcagua. They produce a variety of wines and work with multiple iterations of Pinot Noir, Cinsault, Pais, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Riesling at their winery in Cauquenes, Maule.
Over time, the members of the original group of four have gone their separate ways. Since 2020, Paco Leyton is the sole proprietor of Clos des Fous, working with winemaker Felipe Cartes.
Felipe is an agronomist and enologist from Universidad de Chile and has been the winemaker at Clos des Fous since 2020. Prior to Clos des Fous, Felipe worked at several wineries in Chile, such as De Martino, Tabalí, and Viña Morande, and in Spain with the renowned Descendientes de J. Palacios in Bierzo. He manages the vineyard work, especially close to harvest, and makes the Clos des Fous wines with minimal intervention, long fermentations with native yeast, very soft pressings, aging on lees, and minimal pumping of the wine.
Clos des Fous owns and manages 3 vineyards in Aconcagua Costa, Alto Cahapoal, and Malleco.
Pucalan Vineyard: This 4 hectare vineyardis located in Aconcagua Costa and it was one of the first Pinot Noir vineyards designed and planted in Chile by Pedro Parra in 2007. The soils of the vineyard are complex, with a very ancient parental material of the Paleozoic area (over 350 million years). This deposit corresponds to marine sand which sedimented and turned into hard rock.
Grillos Cantores Vineyard: This 22 hectare vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon is located in Alto Cachapoal and has belonged to Clos de Fous since 2010. The vineyard has been divided into four micro terroirs based on the gravel percentage of the soil and the fertility of the clay found in the gravel.
Latuffa Vineyard: Planted in 2010 and located in Malleco, this 6 hectare vineyard of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling vines is dry-farmed and biodynamic. The wines from this vineyard show the cool climate expression of the region and racy acidity.
Clos des Fous also buys grapes from vineyards in Cauquenes (old vines of País and Carignan), in Guarilihue, Itata (old vines of Corinto, Cinsault and País), and in Florida, Itata (vines of Cinsault).