Errazuriz - Wild Ferment - Chardonnay 2013

Estate

Don Maximiano Errazuriz founded Vina Errazuriz in 1870 in the Aconcagua Valley, 65 miles north of the capital, Santiago.Recognizing that this valley, with its hot, dry summers and moist Pacific Ocean breezes, as ideal for growing grapes, Don Maximiano sent fur the finest clones from France and ith tenacity and perseverance transformed this barren land into a world-class vineyard. Today; the tradition of quality lives on with Don Maximiano's descendant, Eduardo Chadwick. Chad.wick.

Wine

Errazuriz ferments its best lots of chardonnay using natural yeasts. Over the years, their Chardonnay Wild Ferment has become recognized as one of the top Chardonnays from South America.

Vineyard

The grapes that went into our 2013 Aconcagua Costa Single Vineyard Chardonnay came from the Manzanar Vineyard, located just 7.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. 70 acres of Chardonnay were planted in 2005 using clones 548, 95, and 76, which produce different styles of grapes that increase complexity in the final blend. The vineyards are drip irrigated and trellised to vertical shoot position. The soils have a thin layer of loam texture over another layer of clay and weathered schist rock. which is responsible for the minerality found in our wines from the coastal vineyards. These unique conditions are ideal for growing cold-climate varieties such as Chardonnay.

Vinification

The grapes were hand picked during the early hours of the morning and transported to the cellar while still cool. The fruit was delicately whole-cluster pressed and the must was cold decanted in stainless steel tanks for a cleaner fermentation, which later took place in second-and third-use French oak barrels wing native yeasts. Fermentation took place at 64-72 degrees, and approximately 45% of the final blend underwent malolactic fermentation. The wine remained on its fine lees in the same barrels for ten months.

Chile Aconcagua Valley