2022 Montes Cherub Rose of Syrah Colchagua Valley Chile

Striking crystalline pink in color with blue at the rim. The Syrah confers tremendous aromatic complexity, primarily recalling fresh red berries, juicy cherries, and cassis with a pronounced caramel note as well as floral notes and a touch of watermelon. The medium-bodied palate is fresh and crisp with an ample and creamy sensation and a long finish.

HARVEST

Harvest Date: First week of March.

The 2014–2015 season can be considered normal in terms of precipitation and water availability during the phenological stages that need it the most. The winter was quite rainy, which enabled us to accumulate the water necessary to reach harvest in good condition in an area where water is at a premium. The Marchigüe Valley presents very particular climatic conditions. Summer nights and mornings are quite cold and give way to very clear and sunny days with high solar radiation and high winds, which enable the grapes to ripen without risking very abrupt spikes in sugar levels or loss of color due to excessive sunlight. This season did present, however, some days with unusually high temperatures that allowed us to begin the harvest in late February when the grape skins were crisp and aromatic and the grapes had the right levels of sugar and acidity. Harvesting earlier also benefited the health and integrity of the grapes and ensured high quality fruit for vinification.

VINEYARDS

The vineyards that give rise to this wine are located in our Finca El Arcángel in the Marchigüe Valley, which has a predominance of granitic soils with profiles of highly mixed deposits of glacial and colluvial material with a diversity of clay and organic matter. The Syrah that goes into our Rosé is planted to a density of 5,555 plants per hectare, trained to vertical shoot position, and produces an average yield of 9,000 kg/hectare. The plants are managed for optimal foliage through harvest, which helps obtain fruit with an excellent sugar to acidity ratio.

VINIFICATION

The grapes were handpicked into small, 10-kg boxes, and the fruit was selected prior to processing to remove any damaged or imperfectly ripe grapes. The bunches were then destemmed and deposited into a tank for cold maceration at 9ºC (48°F) and held for at least 12–24 hours of skin contact, which is very important to obtain juice with the optimal color for this wine. Following the maceration, the juice was drained to another tank for a 12–18-hour static decantation before the clean must was racked off, leaving the larger particulates behind.

The must was inoculated with commercial yeast (Saccharomyces cereviciae), which allows very good expression of the fresh red fruit notes and also ensure proper fermentation kinetics.

Alcoholic fermentation lasted 15 days at 13º–14ºC (55º–57°F), which conditions and controls the speed of the fermentation kinetics very well. Once fermentation was complete, 100% of the wine was sulfited to fully stop all yeast activity and protect it from oxidation. The wine was stabilized for proteins and tartaric precipitates prior to bottling using membranes as a filtering