Vintage Report

APPELATION

Apalta Valley, Colchagua, Chile.

BLEND

48% Carmenère, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot.

HARVEST

Organic certified vineyards by CERES (Germany). Biodynamic certified vineyards by DEMETER (Germany). Carmenère and Cabernet Sauvignon Pre-filoxera old vines planted in 1920 not grafted. Morning sun leaf removal and green harvest to fine tune yields. 100% hand harvested from 7th March until 16th May 2012.

GROWING CONDITIONS

The 2014 growing season is characterized by a spring with low temperatures, and a summer with normal hot & dry conditions. The 2013 winter was exceptionally cold and dry (118mm vs 237mm of rain). The bud break was 10 days late and the dry weather followed over the springtime. Finally march brought normal conditions, but the fall came with a cold April. The grape lost early its vegetal flavors and was technically ready to make wine, but we had to wait for the aromatic and phenolic ripeness. The ripening process was slow, because of the normal fall characteristics: lower temperatures and shorter days. The cold nights of April allowed us to preserve a good level of acidity and fruit expression. So finally, the challenge during this 2014 season was to wait for each desired phenolic maturity.

VINIFICATION

100% hand de-stemmed in our Clos Apalta Winery. 100% native yeast. 95% fermented in French oak vats of 75 Hl and 5% in new French oak Bordeaux barrels. Skin contact up to 5 weeks. 100% of the blend in 225 lts new French oak barrels for 28 months. Not fined, cold stabilized or filtered. Bottled in June 2016, 5,199 cases of 12 bottles.