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Variety: 100% Merlot
Region: 85% Tupungato
+ 15% Ugarteche– Mendoza – Argentina (1000
m. above sea level).
Winemaker’s comments:
Deep red violet coloured wine, with aromas reminiscent
of ripe red fruit and spicy herbaceous notes. In the
palate is Fresh, elegant, fruity and well-balanced by
soft tannins and good acidity. Fruity aftertaste.
Ageing potential: 3-5
years, drink it young to enjoy the food.
Soil, location selection:
Originally alluvial, the soil is a typical land flow
of average depth and sandy texture, good fertility with
a CIC of 15 me/100 g soil, relation N/C 0f 0,8 and basic
pH.
Climate 2002: The 2002
Vintage in Mendoza was characterized for its excellent
weather conditions, which favoured a gradual ripeness
and a very good juice/skin balance in all the varieties
of our vineyards located in Ugarteche and Tupungato.
One of the most important characteristics of the year
2002 is that it had and average temperature of 20.9
ºC in February and of 18.5 ºC in March, which is the
period of grape ripening.
There were 16 days with maximum temperatures of 30-33
ºC in the sub-period of veraison and harvest for Malbec,
and only 2 days in which the temperature exceeded 33
ºC.
The average day-night thermal amplitude range was 13
ºC.
The photo-period between veraison and harvest was lower
than usual, with 22 % of cloudy days, something which
greatly contributed to moderate temperatures.
There were 49 mm of rainfall in February, whereas in
March it just reached 12 mm. This made the 2002 harvest
one of the driest and with the best phyto-sanitary conditions
over the last years.
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| Vineyard management:
52 ha planted in 1998 almost all of them in rootstock
in 1103 P and 3309 . A careful selection of many different
clones is carried out to maximise the potential of the
variety enhancing the complexity of the wines. The genetic
material comes from a Merlot: 15% cl.181, 35% cl.R12,
17% cl.R3, 8% cl.343, 7% cl.346, 6% cl.347, 4% cl.313,
8% ‘INTA’ Mass Selection. The spacing is 2.2
* 1.6 m with vertical treilling and cane pruning. Drip
irrigation ( 2,3 l / h ) with inline emitters and in poorer
soils with two lines. Covercrops are used in all the vineyards.
Vinification: All the
stems of the grape were removed.
Partial crushing of the berries: 20% of berries were
crushed to provide some berry aromas and a carbonic
maceration character to the wine.
Addition of 5 g/hl of SO2 at crusher.
Inert gas blanketing. Carbon dioxide gas was dispersed
over the must to exclude oxygen from juice.
Gentle handling of the grapes in all the process with
positive displacement pumps with variable speed control.
Must cooling to reduce the temperature immediately after
crushing to maintain flavours and aromas and reduce
the level of SO2.
Cool pre-fermentation maceration for 48 hr to extract
primary flavours and colour.
Fermented in stainless steel tanks with jackets for
ten days at 22°C with a peak of 28°C between
10 to 8 Bé.
Total maceration period of 15 days.
Natural malolactic fermentation took place in tanks
at 16°C.
No press wine has been added.
40% of the wine has been aged for two months with a
variety of different toast French oak.
Finned with albumen and cool tartrate stabilisation.
Filtered just by pressure filter with large diatomaceous
(or kieselgur).
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