Nose
The nose offers concentrated aromas of ripe red and dark fruits with traces of vanilla and moca.
Palate
The mouthfeel is rich and concentrated, with blueberries and blackberries notes and a touch of leather and cinamon. The finish presents well integrated supple tannins with a flinty minerality that gives the wine exceptional length.
Growing Conditions
Alluvial origin. Loamy clay in the topsoil with 5 % surface stones. Sandy and loamy: 50% sand, 30 % silt, 20% clay. Subsoil composed of rounded rocks.
“El Año Mendocino,” the Mendoza Year we call it. After a small cool vintage 2017, which we call “El Año Bordelés” (the Bordeaux Year) and a small, very cool and rainy year in 2016 “El Año Bourguignon” (the Burgundian year), we finally got a vintage that is classically Mendozan: dry, cool, sunny and with moderate yields in every region from the lowest to the highest altitudes.
Cool Nights and high day-night Thermal Amplitude:
The summer of 2017 started out warm but then cooled off during the 2018 harvest months of February, March and April. This, in addition to the lower rainfall, gave rise to optimal balance in the fruit, with beautiful natural acidity, regional aromatic expression and smooth tannins.
Early by Two Weeks:
A warm summer followed by the cooling effect of the Pacific over the Andes during the months of February, March and April gave rise to a slightly earlier (by two weeks) harvest in 2018.
A Dry Year:
There was a decrease of about 100 mm (4 inches), about 30% less rain in every region.
Winemaking
This wine goes through cold maceration for 5 days under 50oF (10oC). The juice is then fermented for 16 days with a post-fermentation maceration of 10 days.
Aging
12 months in barrel (35% new). Barrel selection varies depending on vineyard and vintage. 100% French oak.
Appearance
Deep violet color with purple reflections.
