The Story
After several years of experimentation, Aurelio Montes settled on producing a rosé from Syrah (the grape he made famous in Chile with the country´s first Ultra Premium Syrah, Montes Folly). Montes Cherub is a seductive, elegant, dry wine, with an intense cherry-pink color. Expressive of the grape and its terroir, it shows distinct Syrah character: spiciness and hints of strawberry, rose and orange peel. There is a strong backbone of acidity with residual tannins that gives the wine structure. For a rosé, it shows good fruit concentration and a richness in texture across the palate that leads to a delightfully long finish.
The vineyards that produce the Syrah for our rosé are located at our Finca El Arcángel estate in the Marchigüe zone, where the moderate slopes encourage good development of the variety. The vineyards are specifically worked to produce this wine and are double vertically positioned with a density of 5,555 plants/hectare (2,250 plants/acre). The upper canopy is managed with a high leaf density to protect the quality of the grape skins and ensure that the grapes reach harvest with high acidity levels. Harvest takes place at night so that the fruit reaches the cellar at low temperatures.
Wine Information
Alcohol: 13.5%
Total Acidity: 3.6 g/l
Residual Sugar: 4,72 g/l
pH: 3.22 g/l
HARVEST
Date: March 27–28.
The 2013–2014 season will be remembered for its successive frosts between mid-September and late October throughout Chile’s entire central valley and southern sectors, although the Colchagua Valley was not particularly affected except for a few sectors of early-onset budbreaking reds. Budbreak had not yet taken place in the Syrah when the frosts occurred, so we were able to obtain all of the fruit we needed. Flowering and fruit set took place at normal times. December presented no rainfall, and good temperatures predominated. January and February were quite warm, which considerably accelerated ripening in the grapes, although in the end harvest took place on almost the same date as it did in the 2012 harvest. Grape quality at harvest was remarkable, and the bunches were very healthy, with good size and high potential color, which obligated us to be very attentive during the pre-fermentation cold soak in order to avoid over-extraction of color.
VINIFICATION
The grapes were hand picked into 300-kg containers. Upon arriving at the cellar the bunches were carefully selected before the grapes were destemmed. They then underwent a 12-hour cold soak at temperatures below 10° C (50° F). The juice was then drained and allowed to decant for 24 hours. The clean must was transferred to the definitive tanks and inoculated with commercial cerevisiae yeasts to initiate alcoholic fermentation.
Fermentation Temperature was low (13° - 14° C) (55° - 57° F), and the process was slow (20–25 days) to ensure very controlled fermentation kinetics. Once the wine reached the level of residual sugar desired for our Cherub Rosé, the wine was sulfited to halt fermentation and protect the wine against oxidation.
