Growing Conditions
Vineyard: Finca Los Paraísos, El Mirador, Rivadavia, Mendoza, 635 msnm.
Soil: Loamy sandy.
Harvest
Dry weather (precipitations 20-60% lower than usual), small berries and slightly lower yields; cooler temperatures overall. The 2019 harvest happened about 1-3 weeks earlier than usual, and the grapes were in pristine condition with not a drop of botrytis or downy mildew.
We were concerned that there would be problems with frost, because of the dry spring, but a constant evening breeze made frosts rare this year. And outside of Agrelo, there were no significant hail storms. We expected the harvest to be larger than usual, but the combination of dry weather and cool climate resulted in yields slightly lower than the norm.
Winemaking
Type of harvest: Manual.
Prefermentation: 3 days cold maceration in clay pots. Temp. 5-8 °C.
Fermentation: 21 days with skins in clay pots. Temp 19-22ºC.
Malolactic fermentation: Full.
Added sulfites: No.
Aging
8 months in clay pots.