Garcés Silva is making some lovely wines in Chile’s Leyda Valley, mostly under the Amayna label
Website: https://vgs.cl/en/
Garcés Silva is a winery whose name isn’t well known, but they are important in the story of Chile as one of the pioneers of the Leyda region. With four other families they funded a 6.5 km pipeline from the Maipo River for irrigation. While Leyda is a coastal region, just 10 km from the Pacific, irrigation is needed here because the summers are so dry. It rains here between April and September, and then hardly at all.
The reason Garcés Silva isn’t well known is that all their wines are sold under separate brands, with Garcés Silva only visible if you look closely at the capsule. Amayna is the main brand, but they also have Boya and Catalino (which comes from Maule), brands that have to swim on their own in the market place.
The ocean influence is vital for the climate. While Chile’s main regions are sheltered from the sea by the coastal mountains, Leyda isn’t, and the cold Humboldt current that comes up from the Antarctic influences the climate. In January, the hottest month, temperatures peak at 23 C, which is great for cool-climate viticulture.
They have around 100 hectares of vineyards, which have been rationalized and rearranged a bit over the 25 year history of viticulture in Leyda. They are still planting blocks, with Sauvignon Blanc the main story, but also some Albariño, Riesling and Sauvignon Gris going in.
Diego Rivera has been making the wines here for a while and has improved them greatly, especially the reds, where he’s been picking earlier, using less oak, and extracting less, letting the place show through.
‘Sauvignon Blanc has been the star of the valley for the last 10 years,’ says Diego. ‘We get our best results in terms of scores and sales. Pinot Noir is probably second.’ But he’s also a fan of Syrah. ‘Syrah in terms of personality and character is probably the wine that represents best the region,’ he says. ‘It might not be the best in sales.’
Sauvignon is half their plantings, and is the grape that Leyda is best known for. Garces Silva farm organically, and have been implementing regenerative viticulture. Production is relatively small by Chilean standards, at 240 000 bottles a year.
These notes are from two tastings. The first was at Casa Marin, Chile in November 2025 when I met with Diego Rivera, who was showing his wines alongside Matetic and Casa Marin for a joint tasting. And the second was at a lunch with his UK importers Milestone Wines in London in February 2026. The Garces Silva wines have just re-entered the UK market after a couple of years’ absence. These wines are all really good.
Amayna Sauvignon Blanc 2025 Leyda, Chile
Stainless steel ferment with lees work. Concentrated, fresh, fine and mineral with a lovely weight of citrus and pear fruit. Crystalline with subtle green hints. Nicely delicate, fine and stony, showing precision but also depth of fruit. 93/100
Amayna Sauvignon Blanc Cordón Huinca 2025 Leyda, Chile
Steeper slopes on old granite. Less clay here. Nice tension and complexity here with a salty edge to the lime and lemon fruit, showing depth of fruit with a long, mineral finish. There’s great concentration and energy, with density and salinity. 94/100
Amayna Chardonnay 2023 Leyda, Chile
This is rich, textural and mealy with some warm spiciness, as well as pear and peach fruit. Rounded, broad and textural with fine spicy detail. 93/100
Amayna Chardonnay 2024 Leyda, Chile
60% oak, 40% stainless steel. This shows nice concentration but also freshness. Pear and peach with some citrus underpinning and just a hint of toast and caramel in the background. There’s nice density to this wine and good acidity, finishing a bit salty again. 93/100
Boya Pinot Noir 2022 Leyda, Chile
Juicy and bright, and quite assertive with fresh cherry and cranberry fruit. Sappy, juicy and bright with nice spicy detail, and layers of flavour. Grippy finish with nice balance. Some subtle bitter cherry and spice on the finish. 93/100
Amayna Pinot Noir 2023 Leyda, Chile
20% whole cluster, wild ferment, 12 months in oak, 10% new, pre-blend and then bottle after 6 months in stainless steel. Blend of 3 blocks: one third planted 2001 massale selection, another third is granite based with Dijon, then a third a massale selection from Vosne Romanée with small clusters. Stylish and refined with some nice tension to the sleek cherry and plum fruit, with a hint of green and some meaty richness. This is really nicely textured with a slight salty twist and just a little tannic structure. Just a hint of green here. It’s such an intriguing wine with a vital, energetic finish. 94/100
Catalino País 2023 Maule, Chile
This is really interesting. Garces Silva bought a 60 hectare property in south Maule, hear the border with Itata, to make some richer reds that the market wanted, but found they had 25 hectares of old vine País tended for 45 years by a guy called Catalino. So they made this beautifully expressive wine from it. The vines are tended by hand, and horse, and maybe get one sulfur spray a year. Lovely finesse with pure redcurrants and red cherries, showing purity and fine-grained structure. 20% whole cluster adds some fine spice and a hint of herbs, and it’s mostly aged in concrete egg which helps bring out the fruit purity. 94/100
Amayna Syrah 2022 Leyda, Chile
Current release. 3% Viognier and 4% Grenache in the blend. Wild ferment, 20% whole cluster, barrels and foudres, 10% new oak. Reductive nose with pepper and blood/iron notes. The palate is taut, bloody and reductive with spice, ginger and pepper notes as well as floral black fruits. So distinctive with grippy structure. Such personality here: vivid, taut, concentrated and very cool climate in style. Real reductive tension here. 94/100
Amayna Côte d’Mar 2022 Leyda, Chile
85% Syrah, 10% Grenache and 5% Viognier. Complex, taut, slightly reduced and structured with vivid black fruits and some notes of olive, tar and rubber. Dense and compact with lots of grippy density. Nicely complex, and in need of time. 94/100
