This winery was started in 1983 by Concha Y Toro and is now one of the largest wineries in Chile. We spoke with Fernando Pavon, the export manager of the company, and he gave us a greater understanding of how the company operates and how much it has grown in the last six years. From 2004 to 2009, they went from twenty-four thousand cases of wine to two hundred seven thousand cases of wine and went from three percent organic product to twenty-five percent organic product. Their portfolio up to date has twenty-five plus labels that are organically certified and sold on the shelf.

He emphasized on educating the consumers on and organic farming that way they will be more open minded with the organic concept. Although it is imported educating the consumer, it is also essential to educate the workers within the company on the importance of organic farming and the process that has to be followed.

Seven generations and 154 years later, Cousino Macul Winery is the oldest family owned winery in Chile. In the beginning, mining was the main activity for the Cousino family and in 1856 Matias Cousino bought Hacienda and dedicated it to the production of wine.

Each generation has been faced with a challenge that has made Cousino Macul Winery what it is today. Challenges like: lack of knowledge within the wine industry, after WW1 and the Great Depression the world began to de-globalize, there was a political challenge in the late 1960s (wine industry almost died), during the 1980s they were faced with the challenge that Chile was ready to open their wine industry to the world and many family owned wineries had to sell because they couldn’t afford this step, and the commercial challenge were they were faced with decreasing domestic consumption. The winery is currently run by the sixth generation and they have been faced with the challenge of the new millennium and decision to have a bigger production or to stay smaller with a better quality of wine.