Caliterra

Winemaker Comment

This enchanting limited release of 60% Syrah, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon has the distinction of 6% of Viognier blended inside. This variety unites the wine in harmony, delivering a fresh and unique personality. Beautiful deep red colour, notes of apricot, chocolate and coffee followed by undertones of thyme and cumin, with a touch of cedar. On the palate it is smooth and silky, with a long, velvety, elegant finish.

Vintage Note

The 2005&2006 growing season was a cold, dry season. The accumulated heat summation measured in degree days (based on 10°C) between October 2005 and April 2006 was in almost all of the valleys lower than it was during the 2005 season and over the course of the past seven years.

The primary challenge of the 2006 vintage was the particularly long wait for each variety to reach proper phenolic maturity, which resulted in higher sugar levels in the grapes. As it was particularly cold in the Colchagua valley, the metabolism of the vines was much slower compared to normal years and the harvest started first at the end of April.

As the climatic circumstances were very favourable towards the end of the growing season and due to quality-oriented viticultural measures undertaken, the grapes were very healthy at the moment of harvesting.

Fermentation and Aging

The grapes for this wine were hand-harvested in bins, destemmed, gently crushed and transferred to stainless-steel tanks. Fermentation began at 28°C. (82.4°F), once this process was completed, the wine received 25 days of maceration to enhance complexity and achieve a nice, rich structure. The Viognier grape is the hinge between Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon; its low percentage merges harmonically in these two varieties. The final blend ended malolactic fermentation and was aged for 14 months in oak barrels (81% French, 19% American) to reveal beautiful oak aromas to the wine.

The wine was fined and lightly filtered before bottling.