MALBEC PREMIUM & CABERNET

On Wednesday april 23rd we harvested the last grapes from Ojo de Vino, including 10.000 kgs of high quality Malbec and 18.000 kg of Cabernet sauvignon. Even though the grapes were already on the edge of dehydration, due to the frost of last week, we got very good concentration and excellent colour. Therefore the maceration process will be much shorter than last year and we will soon start fermentation.

HARVEST COMPLETED ON VINEYARD

On Saturday april 19th we finalized harvesting the red grapes on our vineyard. We got another 6000 kgs of Syrah, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Malbec. At the end of the day we transported the ripened grapes to Santos Bodega, where we will be processing 4.000 liters of this very special blend from this first vintage.

The technical details:

Brix- 28
Acidity- 4.15
PH- 4.03
Alc.- 16.2

We will make some corrections to lower alcohol levels and PH level

PROCESSING THE GRAPES- PART 4

The final step was to bring the metal container to the winetank. For this particular work and to act with gravity into place a small vehicle lifted the container 5 meters and 2 employees made sure they were droped in the right winetank.

PROCESSING THE GRAPES- PART 3

At the end of the belt a big metal basket colected the clean grapes and one worker was permanently controling that the container was filled up accordingly

PROCESSING THE GRAPES- PART 2

Four girls were standing on the belt to check if all grapes were properly seperated from the machine

PROCESSING THE GRAPES- PART 1

On Friday april 18th at 8pm we started processing the 12.000 kgs of Malbec grapes from our vineyard. The different processes included:

1. seperating the leaves from the grapes (manual work)- see pics

2. seperating the branches from the grapes (machine)

3. collecting the clean grapes

4. pouring the grapes into the winetank

The entire work was completed at 10.30 pm

TRANSPORTING GRAPES TO WINERY

Once we finalized the Malbec harvest on Friday april 18 th we sent 3 trucks to the Decero winery to get the grapes processed the same night.

HARVEST DAY

On Thursday april 17th in the afternoon it finally happened. We started harvesting the Malbec grapes with a total of 25 people for 1.5 days and got a total of 12.000 kgs, well below of the expected 18.000 kgs. Due to the frost on Monday and strong humidity in Februray (it rained in 4 weeks as much as the entire year) we had less and more concentrated grapes. All vineyard producers of the region had the same challenge to face. It is a fact that the 2008 vintage in the Mendoza region will bring much less wine production than average

HARVEST 2008- PRELIMINARY DATES

After a phantastic week of sunshine and temperatures well above 20C, on Monday april 14 we woke up with temperatures below 0 C. As a result we decided to harvest most of the grapes between Tuesday and Sunday this week.

Our tentative dates:

april 15- 15.000 kgs Malbec - Ojo de Vino (being used for organic Reserva)
april 16- 10.000 kgs Malbec- Ojo de Vino (best grapes for organic Premium)
april 17- 18: 20.000 kgs Malbec- own vineyard
april 19-20: 15.000 kgs other red grapes own vineyard
next week: 18.000 kgs Cabernet Sauvignon- Ojo de Vino (Reserva)

HARVEST 2008- LAST RIPE CONTROL

Last week we walked through the vineyards to watch the latest developments on the grapes to decide on the best conditions for harvesting our grapes. According to our enologist and agronomist we will most likely pick up our grapes on the week of april 14 (Syrah & Malbec) and the week after (Cabernet), depending on the climatic conditions. On our vineyard there will be approx 18.000 kgs of Malbec and 15.000 kgs of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot.

The technical details for april 07, 2008:

Malbec:
º BRIX- 26
ACIDITY- 4.9
PH- 3.72
SUGAR- 262.3
ALC. POTENCIAL- 15.4

Syrah:
º BRIX- 26.4
ACIDITY- 3.52
PH-3.85
SUGAR- 266.8
ALC. POTENTIAL- 15.7

Cabernet Sauvignon:

º BRIX- 23.6
ACIDITY- 5.85
PH- 3.34
SUGAR- 236
ALC. POTENTIAL- 14