Located west of Santiago and just 32 km (20 miles) from the Pacific Ocean, the Casablanca Valley receives a coastal influence that moderates temperatures during the ripening period. The fresh sea breezes encourage gradual, easy ripening that conserves grape aromas and flavours and ensures desirable levels of acidity. These conditions make the Casablanca Valley a privileged place for producing cool-climate varieties such as Chardonnay. The vineyard was planted in 1997 with the 96, 458 and Mendoza clones, which produce different styles of fruit that enhance the complexity of the final blend. It features sandy, clay-loam low vigour soils and the vineyard management techniques include drip irrigation and vertical shoot positioning. Climate: Warm summer days cooled by morning fog and fresh afternoon breezes. Rainfall occurs mainly in winter. Soil: Fine clay and sandy-loam textured soils with low vigour potential. Picking Date: Third week of March to third week of April 2008 Historic Averages: · Heat Summation (Oct–Apr): 1,433 degree days. · Mean Temperature (Oct–Apr): 16.8ºC /62ºF · Temperature oscillation (Oct–Apr): 16.5ºC /29.7ºF · Rainfall (year round): 448 mm /17.6 inches The winter of 2007 was one of Chile’s coldest and driest in 40 years, which had a number of consequences on the 2008 vintage. The springtime soil moisture levels were lower than in previous years, which provoked a uniform but slow budbreak 10–15 days later than in the previous season. From January onward the Casablanca Valley observed high temperatures that reached 32°C (90ºF), although those registered from December through April were generally very close to the historic averages. The season’s final heat summation was 1,433 degree days, just 1.7% lower than the historic average of 1,456 and 2.2% higher than the previous season’s 1,401 degree days. Vineyard management techniques include open canopies without water restriction, moderate fruit loads, and harvesting later than usual to ensure healthy grapes with good acidity, freshness, and intensity. The grapes for the 2008 Max Reserva Chardonnay were hand-picked from the third week of March until the third week of April, using small boxes during the early morning hours and then brought to the cellar while they were still cool. The bunches were rigorously sorted to guarantee optimum fruit quality and then gently whole-cluster pressed. The must was cold decanted in stainless steel tanks in order to ferment with clean musts. Fermentation took place at 16°– 22°C (57.2°–71.6°F). Approximately 50% of the final blend underwent malolactic fermentation for additional complexity, and all of it was aged on its lees for 8 months in French oak barrels, 24% new. The wine was cold settled for 2 weeks at -3°C (26.6°F) and bottled in February of 2009. Golden yellow in colour with classic aromas of barrel-fermented Chardonnay, such as light toast, dried fruit, and butterscotch, along with tropical aromas such as cherimoya and mango, all accompanied by lactic notes that lend texture and complexity. Friendly acidity on the palate lends depth, and leads to a moderate yet elegant finish. Casablanca Valley 100% Chardonnay 14.0% by vol. 3.2 6.2 g/l (tartaric acid) 3.3 g/l