Almaviva - Vina Almaviva - Chile 2007

Almaviva - Vina Almaviva - Chile 2007

An extraordinary vintage The harvest, which starts on March 26th, will be remembered for its exceptional quality, and for an extraordinarily long and cool picking season, rather late for most varietals. Low temperatures and weather conditions for slow-moving and slow ripening that favored balance and unctuous tannins. 18 months, new French oak. The 2007 vintage will be remembered for its exceptional quality, balance, concentration and extraordinary complexity, which make it, without a doubt, one of the best Chilean vintages. The winter was relatively dry on Puente Alto, with a rainfall of June to September of only 292 mm. The budding, homogeneous, was rather late. The month of November was marked by cool temperatures for the season, and a rain at bloom, causing a significant decrease in the number of berries per cluster on Cabernets Sauvignons. From December to February, maximum temperatures were remarkably high during the day, with a strong thermal amplitude between day and night. These variations played an important role in the formation of thick skins, rich in tannins and in color. The hot summer weather led to a fairly early harvest of Merlot (March 26), but a drop in temperatures in April then slowed the process of maturation of the grapes. The harvest was finally long and late, spread between April 19th and May 25th for Cabernets, and between May 16th and 23rd for Carmenère. The special conditions of the year have generated an extraordinary quality of perfectly ripe grapes, with round and unctuous tannins, and aromas of great intensity and complexity.