Hacienda MalPaso

At the end of the 19th century, Jaime Prohens Juan, a native of Spain, acquired the Hacienda MalPaso, an old farm in the Valle de Limarí. He realized that the ideal climatic conditions at the foot of the imposing 6,000m Chilean Andes were perfect for growing grapes and began planting some vines to produce white wine. By the 1940s, the area under cultivation had expanded to 100 hectares, and the white wine now produced by his son was enjoying great popularity nationwide. Since at least 1937, the company also distilled its own pisco in smaller quantities.

The farm, which is now run by the fourth generation of the family and in which the fifth generation is already working diligently, now cultivates over 700 hectares. There, not only grapes for the own Pisco production are cultivated, but also table grapes and citrus fruits, as well as grapes for other Pisco producers. The best vines are, of course, used for their own Pisco MalPaso.

The name MalPaso is a tribute to the original name of the farm that started it all for the Prohens family in Chile. Translated, this means "bad pass" or "bad step" and probably comes from the difficulty of reaching the farm on foot or the poor ford across the Limarí River. The family jokingly advertises "Habrás dado el mejor malpaso de toda la vida" (You will have taken the best bad step of your life).