Nose
Mineral in character with a note of graphite and subtle hints of black fruits, berries and blueberries. A floral finish with rosehips, and vanilla and tabacco notes provided by French Oak barrel aging.
Palate
Sweet and silky tannins; truly a wine whose structure and acidity unite in the mouth.
Lengthy and elegant, enjoyed long after its exodus from the glass.
Growing Conditions
A cold winter delivered below freezing temperatures in July, with an average temperature of -3°C. Budding began normally in the beginning of September.
Spring was temperate with a median temperature of 17°C. A strong episode of the Zonda wind came through the Luján de Cuyo region and affected flowering by 15%.
A warm summer with maximum temperatures reaching 35°C, coupled with scarce rain, provided for an excellent veraison and uniform ripening.
Fall arrived with cooler days and cold nights, fostering grape polyphenolic maturity.
The harvest took place in three stages, yielding grapes with excellent tannin and anthocyanin concentrations.
Vineyard Labours
- Pruning, between third week of July and first week of August 2010. - Shoot removal, during the second and third week of October 2010.
- Cluster thinning, during the third week of January 2011.
Harvest
Harvest by hand to 15 kg. - capacity plastic bins between April 11th and 18th, 2011, in three stages.
Yield: 2,950 kg per hectare.
Bottling
Filtration: gentle filtration using 5 μm polypropylene plaques Bottling date: December 20th, 2012
Bottle aged: 12 months
Winemaking
Hand selection of clusters, destemming and further berry sorting by hand. Gentle roll crushing. Pre-fermentation maceration for 120 hrs. at 5° to 6oC.
Alcoholic fermentation in small stainless steel tanks for 15 -16 days at 24-26oC
Selected yeasts: Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (Bayanus).
Post-fermentation maceration: 7-8 days. Racked directly to barrels. Malolactic fermentation: 100% natural.
Aging
18 months in medium plus toast French Oak barrels (70% new and 30% 1 use); three rackings employing inert gases to avoid pump use.
Appearance
Violet with bluish-black reflections. Glossy and enveloping in the glass.
