 |
 |
Located west of Santiago and just 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, Casablanca Valley enjoys a coastal influence that moderates temperatures during the ripening period. The fresh sea breeze enables easy, gradual ripening that helps conserve the grape’s aromas and flavours and ensures desirable levels of acidity. These conditions make the Casablanca Valley a privileged place for producing cold climate varieties such as Chardonnay. The vineyard features clay and sandy-loam soils that are low in vigour potential. It was planted in 1997 with 96, 458 and Mendoza clones, which produce different styles of fruit that enhance the complexity of the final blend. The vineyard management includes drip irrigation and vertical shoot positioning. We seek to obtain a density of 18 buds per metre, balanced by adequate vegetative growth.
Climate: Cool summer days with morning fog and cool afternoon breezes.
Rainfall occurs mainly in winter.
Soil: Fine clay and sandy-loam textured soil with low vigour potential. |
|
 |
|
Picking Date: First week of April 2007.
HISTORIC AVERAGES:
HEAT SUMMATION (Oct-Apr): 1460 degree days. (19ºC/66.2ºF cut-off)
MEAN TEMPERATURE (Oct-Apr): 17.1ºC/63ºF (19ºC/66.2ºF cut-off)
TEMPERATURE OSCILLATION(Oct-Apr): (18.3ºC/65ºF
RAINFALL (YEAR ROUND): 450mm/17.7 inches
Temperature records for the 2006-2007 season show that it was relatively cold. The final heat summation of 1,401 degree days was very close to the previous cold season, and 60 degree days lower than the average of the past 6 years. A month-by-month analysis of the temperatures allows us to see particularities with respect to previous years. Budbreak came 10 days early, which fortunately did not expose the vines to frosts. October and November were warmer than normal, although the subsequent ripening period was cold. The average high temperatures for the final six months (Dec-March) were lower than the historic averages.
As a consequence, the grapes ripened very slowly, which forced us to be patient, but was excellent for conserving the natural aromas and acidity. |
|
 |
|
|
The grapes for the 2007 Max Reserva Chardonnay were hand-picked in half-ton bins and 14kg boxes early in the morning at the beginning of April and brought to the winery while they were still cool. The bunches were rigorously sorted to guarantee optimum quality of the fruit and gently wholecluster pressed. The must was cold decanted in stainless steel tanks to ensure proper cleanliness before beginning fermentation. Fermentation took place at 16°C-22°C (61°F-2°F). Approximately 65% of the final blend underwent malolactic fermentation for additional complexity and all of it was aged on its lees for 12 months, in French oak barrels, 37% of which were new. The wine was cold settled for 4 weeks at -3°C (26.6°F) and bottled in January 2008. |
|
 |
|
|
Light yellow in colour, our 2007 Max Reserva Chardonnay offers aromas of ripe fruit with sweet notes of vanilla, butterscotch, and light toast, while cherimoya, stone fruits, and mandarin orange lend aromatic complexity.
The creamy palate features good volume and refreshing acidity. Crisp and well-rounded, flavours of caramel linger on the finish. |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Casablanca Valley |
|
|
 |
100% Chardonnay |
|
|
 |
14.0% by vol. |
|
|
 |
3.29 |
|
|
 |
6.97 g/l (tartaric acid) |
|
|
 |
2.25 g/l |
|
|
|
|
|
