Country: Chile Region: Aconcagua Costa
Varietal: Pinot Noir Vintage: 2022
Category: Red Wine Style: Dry
Producer: Montes
PRODUCERMontes was established in 1988 by Aurelio Montes, Douglas Murray, Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand, with the aim of producing the best wines in Chile from the best regions. We have long admired Montes and what they have done for Chilean wine over the past three decades. Their wines are consistently good because they are meticulous throughout the entire production process. Montes owns 800 hectares of vineyards in Apalta and Marchigüe located in Colchagua Valley as well a single vineyard Zapallar, located in coastal Aconcagua Valley.The Limited Selection wines are classic examples of matching the variety or blend to an area. The grape growers and winemakers are given carte blanche to take outstanding fruit and come up with some wholly individual wines that are perfect expressions of site.VINEYARDSThe vineyards that produce the grapes for the Montes Limited Selection Pinot Noir are located in the Casablanca, Leyda, and Zapallar Valleys, in the Aconcagua Costa wine region. All the vineyards are close to the sea — Casablanca is 25 km from the coast, Leyda 9 km, and Zapallar is 7 km inland. This brings freshness and minerality to this cool-climate wine. The soils are granitic, with varying amounts of clay content and all vines are verticallypositioned.VINIFICATIONThe hand-harvested grapes were destemmed and the berries were sorted before transferred into open-top stainless steel tanks where they were cold soaked at 7°C for five days. This is to extract aroma and colour, especially important for the thin-skinned PinotNoir. The temperature was then raised to allow for fermentation which lasted approximately seven days at 23º– 25ºC, with two pump-overs and punch-downs per day. After being pressed, the wine underwent malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tankswith some of the wine aged in French oak barrels for six to seven months, while th
Country: Argentina Region: Mendoza
Varietal: Malbec
Vintage: 2022 Colour: Red Style: Dry
Producer: Finca Flichman
PRODUCERThe winery was founded in 1910 by Polish immigrant Don SamiFlichman. He purchased property in Barrancas (southern Maipu)and planted vines in rocky, well-drained plots situated along theMendoza river. It was Sami’s son Isaac who first began to makefine wine at the estate, including Caballero de la Cepa, one ofthe first high-quality wines that garnered international awarenessfor premium Argentinian wines. Sogrape Vinhos purchased FincaFlichman in 1998, and invested heavily in restoring the vineyardsand modernising the winery. The original Barrancas vineyardremains among their 400 hectares of vines, which also includes thehigher altitude Tupungato vineyard. Today the wines are made byRogelio Rabino, who works closely with consultant and renownedwinemaker Alberto Antonini.VINEYARDSGrapes for the Caballero de la Cepa wines are picked from theBarrancas region in southern Maipu, Mendoza. The vines here areplanted in rocky, well-drained plots situated along the south sideof the Mendoza river. The vineyards sit at high altitudes - 1,100metres above sea level - meaning that there are largetemperature differences between day and night. This extends thegrowing season and helps to retain freshness and finesse in thewines.VINIFICATIONOn arrival to the winery, the hand-picked grapes underwent acold maceration for two days at 10°C. Fermentation lasted 12days at a controlled temperature of 25°C, and underwentmalolactic conversion. The wine was aged in second and third use French oak foudres (500 litres) for six months and spent afurther six months ageing in bottle.TASTING NOTESThis wine is ruby red in colour with blue hues. The aroma isperfumed and complex - a combination of violets, cherries andoak spice. On the palate, it is concentrated with blackberries, ripeplums and tobacco leaves. Sweet, ripe tannins balance the fruit.