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2003
The spectacular 2003 vintage is a clear example of why Chile is called a viticultural paradise. Mother nature blessed us with a long, dry, sunny autumn which we will long remember.
Winter and spring were very humid, and an "El Niño" weather pattern menaced early in the growing season. Luckily enough the child never arrived. As the season progressed, weather conditions grew windier than normal and humidity was particularly low. Bloom occurred under cool conditions in most valleys, triggering high shatter in many varieties. Fortunately, the original number of inflorescences was substantial, so the shatter balanced the vine load with fewer berries per cluster. It also provided the added benefit of loose clusters, which are less susceptible to rot than tight ones. What started as a very cool and vigorous growing season, however, took a dramatic turn when a heat wave hit at the onset of veraison. It was warm and dry from there on out.
The cold spring and cool early summer delayed ripening by at least a week or two. Picking patterns were very similar to those of the 2000 vintage, although the crop was smaller and the quality higher. Flavours and tannins were very slow to develop. The extra hang time that was needed to ripen the fruit should contribute to very complex and fine wines, as we are seeing in the first tanks finishing fermentation.
Fruit for our Icon wine program was harvested at dawn and in the very early morning. In some cases we actually started picking at midnight and continued through dawn to preserve the cool night-time temperatures. The fruit was then delivered to the winery by refrigerated trucks, using small 15 kilo trays to avoid bruising the grapes. An initial hand selection on special sorting tables was followed first by destemming and then by a second, berry-by-berry hand sorting to remove any remaining green bits and damaged berries.
ACONCAGUA VALLEY (Viña Errázuriz and Seña wines)
Winter saw more rain than usual: the valley received 900 mm in all, mostly concentrated at the onset of winter. Spring was cool, but weather patterns turned warmer than usual in summer. Heat summation reached 1,961 degree days, and Panquehue registered the highest temperature in its recorded history toward the end of January, reaching 39º Celsius. It is now mid-May and we have yet to receive even a drop of rain-just the occasional foggy morning to ease the summer heat. Slow ripening and a supremely dry climate have meant one of the latest vintages in recent memory, with picking extending well into May.
In Cabernet Sauvignon, yields were lower than expected and lower than average (4 to 10 tons per hectare). Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère yields were normal (8 to 14 tons per hectare).
Don Maximiano Estate
The Cabernets have focused cherry flavours with fine tannins that led us to carry out long macerations to increase length on the palate. The Carmenère wines are inky and lush, with intense soy sauce and fig flavours. The Merlots have good colour, jammy flavours and lower tannins than past vintages. The Syrahs have excellent colour and lively flavours, and a few will finish their fermentations in barrel. Maximiano Cabernet Sauvignons are all about spicy flavours and a balanced mouthfeel from start to finish. The Sangiovese looks very good, with excellent mouthfeel.
El Ceibo Vineyard
The Cabernet from El Ceibo has the perfumed fruit flavours typical of this vineyard, with medium weight on the palate. The Carmenère was the last lot picked in 2003, coming in on 13 May. It is an inky wine with good depth and layers of flavour. The Syrah once again is one of the stars of the winery; it shows an intense combination of red meat and black fruit flavours, with polished tannins.
Hijuelas Sector: Las Vertientes Vineyard
The Merlots from this vineyard have excellent colour and spicy flavours. The Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc also have deep colour and ripe flavours and will make prime blending components. The Syrah has very pronounced varietal aromas and good flavours, but it needs barrel aging to fill out the middle palate. Las Vertientes Cabernets feature big colour and blueberry syrup characters, although the middle needs to be filled in with barrel ageing.
Ocoa Sector: Seña Estate
Because of its proximity to the Pacific Ocean and the cold Humboldt Current, the Ocoa sector is one of the coolest red wine sites in the Aconcagua Valley. It is producing outstanding Merlot that is sure to be a key component of the Seña blend. The Cabernet was all harvested the last week of April and looks to be of excellent quality in the fermenters. For harvest, the vineyard was broken down into sectors based on vine vigour and then hand harvested into 15 kilo picking boxes. The fruit was sent to the winery on refrigerated trucks so the cold grapes could be hand sorted at the winery.
CASABLANCA VALLEY (Viña Errázuriz, Arboleda and Caliterra white wines)
La Escultura Estate
Since Casablanca lies just inland from the Pacific coast, it generally experiences less variation in climate than the interior valleys. This year, however, the usually cool region had an exceptionally warm growing season, with temperatures reaching 39º Celsius for the first time in 12 years. Heat Summation in the growing season was 1,621 degree days.
The 2003 vintage in Casablanca looks promising. We are seeing a good balance of sugar, acidity and flavours. Picking started very slow until an unusually warm week in March got the sugars climbing and speeded up harvest. Chardonnay yields were as expected (9 to 11 tons per hectare), while Sauvignon Blanc yields were slightly lower than expected.
The Sauvignon Blanc wines look clean and aromatic. We picked the fruit at the peak of ripe flavours, with a good balance of sugar and high natural acidity. Some lots of Sauvignon Blanc were selected for "tray picking" and they are proving the merit of the technique. The wines are very clean and elegant with mineral, spice, tropical fruit, lime, tangerine and grapefruit flavours. Our clonal block has more green pepper and grassy notes. We ferment half of this lot in five-year-old barrels to add another layer of complexity. We are now blending and preparing the wine for bottling.
This is the second vintage for our Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc. Last year, the wine was created by selecting and blending the best lots after fermentation was completed. This year, we started right in the vineyard in spring by tailoring vineyard management practices in the blocks that produced the best lots last year. Once ripe, the grapes were harvested early in the morning and transported to the winery in 15 kilo bins in refrigerated trucks to keep temperatures low throughout the process. The result is a very elegant wine with interesting citrus and chili pepper characters.
Our Chardonnay lots are in different stages of fermentation. Most are dry and undergoing malolactic fermentation. Some are already sulphured and finished, while a few late lots are only just finishing alcoholic fermentation. The quality is very good-fruit driven with forward tropical fruit and citrus flavours and good acidity. We are putting all the Max Reserva and Wild Ferment lots through malolactic fermentation to lower the high acidity and give more mouthfeel. The Wild Ferment lots are still bubbling away. We hope they will all finish their fermentations as they did last year, giving us good quality and plenty of options for blending.
The Errázuriz Wild Ferment Pinot Noir has good flavours and colour. A few lots are finishing up fermentation in barrel.
CACHAPOAL VALLEY (Caliterra wines)
Chardonnay from this valley will add ripe fruit flavours to the Caliterra Chardonnay blend. Cabernet Sauvignon was picked at its peak, with ripe aromas and soft tannins. Carmenère grapes were picked at the end of April and beginning of May; the wines look very interesting with good balance, concentration and colour. Syrah is also showing very good quality. Very deep colour, soft tannins and a distinctive, spicy flavour profile will give us plenty of blending options.
COLCHAGUA VALLEY (Arboleda and Caliterra wines)
This was a perfect vintage for Colchagua. The highest temperature recorded in the Colchagua Valley was 38º Celsius at Arboleda Estate; heat summation was 1,820 degree days. Irrigation started very late in the summer to keep the berries small, yielding fruity wines with intense colour. So far, the Malbec looks better than ever. The Merlot is also very promising, thanks to a lot of walking the vineyard waiting for the right moment to pick and being very selective with block selections.
Cabernet Sauvignon is still fermenting and looks really good. Because of the ideal weather conditions we waited until May to pick some lots. Our Syrah looks great, with lots of perfume and density. Overall, the wines are showing ripe red fruit flavours and nice structure.
CURICO VALLEY (Viña Errázuriz and Caliterra wines)
El Descanso Estate
This year, curiously enough, heat summation in the Curicó Valley was only 1,720 degree days, significantly cooler than its usual average of over 1,800 degree days. The highest temperature recorded was 36.5º Celsius. Spring was extremely cool in the valley, which affected the season's heat summation.
The white wines from Curicó are looking clean and ripe. They should offer very good components for the Caliterra programs and Errázuriz varietals sourced from this Valley. We harvested the Sauvignon Blanc at different stages of ripeness to provide more blending options and to achieve a good balance of expressive fruit and good acidity.
The red lots from Curicó also appear to be very good quality. We were able to leave the grapes on the vine till very late in the season, since the fall weather brought neither rain nor humidity. The Cabernet looks great for our Caliterra program, with nice colour, dark fruit flavours and firm tannins. The wine is now being put into barrel to soften its structure and increase complexity.
One of the new things we tried this year was fermenting Syrah and Carmenère in open-top 10 ton concrete lagares and old raulí fermentation vats. Winemaking like it was done a century ago! The idea was to get better extraction and better contact with the skins, as well as better concentration due to higher natural evaporation. We still have to wait a few months to see how it goes, to give the wine some time in barrel. Unfortunately, we only produced a small amount of wine this way, but we learned a great deal from the experiment.
VINTAGE 2003: A PERSONAL VIEW
Ed Flaherty on being a winemaker during harvest
"It's always hard to sum up the harvest after three months of hard work, especially since it is only just starting to wind down. I remember lots of driving, walking endless rows of vineyard and tasting green grapes looking for something to bring into the winery. Half our fruit was still out there in the middle of April!"
Rodrigo Banto on Casablanca Valley
"One of the highlights of the vintage was having options. Options to pick different producers, different blocks, bins versus boxes, small or big trucks and -most important of all- a variety of food. This vintage our choices included Pablowski (a cheap local source of Chilean favourites), Lomitón (fast food), Beto's refreshing Mote con Huesillos (a traditional Chilean specialty) and the very elegant Restaurant Morandé. That's a big improvement over years past."
Sven Bruchfeld´s view of the 2003 vintage
"This was one of those great years in Chile when nature gives you plenty of opportunities to make nice wines."
Pedro Izquierdo´s reflection on the vintage
"A ripening season to frame in gold."
Edward Flaherty
Viña Errázuriz
Chief Winemaker |
Rodrigo Banto
Viña Caliterra
Chief Winemaker |
Sven Bruchfeld
Viña Errázuriz
Winemaker |
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Pedro Izquierdo
Viticulturist
Errázuriz Family of Wines |
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