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Wine Description
The Story
Our Montes Alpha Syrah is made with selected grapes from our Colchagua Valley vineyards grown under our “Dry Farming” philosophy. Under this system we leave nature to do the job of irrigation through rain.
We don’t irrigate unless nature does not provide us with the enough minimum rain that we have determined our vines need in which case we irrigate to compensate the difference. Dry Farming increases the final quality of the wines with more ripe fruit, and more weight in the mouth, decreasing the use of water up to 65%.
Wine Information
Alcohol: 14.8%
pH: 3.50 g/l
Total Acidity: 3.47 g/l
Residual Sugar: 2.9 g/l
Vineyard yield: 7 tons per hectare (2.8 tons per acre)
Barrel Aging: 55% of the wine is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels with 1, 2, or 3 uses.
HARVEST
Period: Throughout the entire month of April.
The weather during the 2011–2012 season presented very pronounced cold and hot periods. Rainfall was scant due to the influence of the La Niña phenomenon and concentrated during the winter months. The spring was cold and frost free, which was ideal for optimal foliage growth, flowering, and cluster definition. The summer was dry, clear, and without the cold and cloudy days presented during the previous season.
Veraison began in mid-January, a little earlier than in the previous season, essentially due to the predominance of clear and warm days during the rain-free summer season. Temperature peaks in February and March made it necessary to start harvest slightly earlier than in 2011 in the non-irrigated blocks destined for our icon wines. Harvest for entire volume destined for our Alpha wine began the first week of April and ended on the 28th of the month. Overall grape health was very good, although extreme care was taken to remove bunches showing signs of dehydration.
VINEYARDS
The vineyards that produce the grapes destined for our Montes Alpha Syrah are located at our Marchigüe and Apalta estates in the Colchagua Valley. These two areas have soils of granitic origin with varying levels of weathering. Both vary widely in terms of clay content, depth, and amount of organic matter.
Apalta is very heterogeneous, with zones that are marked by the influence of the river and others influenced by mudslides and material that breaks loose from the surrounding mountains. The soils are generally deep on the flatland and thinner at the foot of the mountain and higher areas. The Syrah does best when planted in the areas with steep, 45° slopes.
Marchigüe is flatter and has lower hills with low to medium slopes. Its soils are rather shallow and in some cases no more than 60 cm deep, with medium clay content and a high capacity for water retention. The vineyards are located on moderate slopes with a westerly exposure. "The leaves closest to the bunches are lightly removed eight weeks before harvest to encourage better ventilation to the bunches and allow more sunlight to reach the fruit to ensure even ripening and optimal vineyard health.
