Doña Paula Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 2005

Winemaker's Notes:

Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Soil: Originally alluvial, the soil is a typical land flow of average depth and clayey texture, with some round, smooth pebble of different sizes and basic pH. Harvest: Last week March. The harvest was carried out manually with a highselection in the field, discarding any cluster of a non-satisfactory quality. Transportation of the grapes was made in bins of 500 Kg. Wine making details: 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 flavors and aromas and reduce the level of SO2. Cool pre-fermentation maceration for 48 hr to extract primary flavors and color. 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. 20% of the wine has been aged for two months with a variety of different toast French oak. Finned with albumen and cool tartrate stabilization. Filtered just by pressure filter with large diatomaceous (or kieselgur). Tasting notes: Color: Dark and deep ruby color. Aroma: Complex and concentrated aromas of ripe currant, graphite and mineral notes are combined with toasty oak hints. Palate: ripe and rich tannins with a long and persistent aftertaste.