RIOJA Single Vineyard

VARIETIES:

Tempranillo peludo (100 %).

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ORIGIN OF THE GRAPES:

Vineyard: Finca la Canoca, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, La Rioja; 18 Has (44.5 acres). Soils of calcareous clay. High density plantation on trellis. Organic fertilization.
Exhaustive manual harvesting of perfectly mature clusters with good sanitary conditions; further selection made in the winery using a sorting table.
Date of harvest: 10 and 11 October 2005. Yield: 26 Hls./ Ha.

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FERMENTATION:

10 days with two daily pump-overs. Traditional elaboration, 100% de-stemmed. Temperature control between 28 and 30º C (82 and 86º F).
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MACERATION:

On the skins for 16 days. The first ten days, two daily pump-overs; after that, the frequency was reduced, finishing with a light pump-over every two days.
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MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION:

In barrel.

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AGING:

Barrel: 20 months in new Bordelaise barrels of French oak (90%) and American oak (10%) beginning in December 2005. Racking every four months. Bottled unfiltered in August 2007.

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VINTAGE:

Cold winter with abundant showers in the form of snow, which favoured the accumulation of water reserves suitable for all the vegetative cycle. The start of spring was somewhat cold, delaying the bud breaking, which began at the start of May, showing satisfactory fertility. The climate conditions improved afterwards. They can be considered almost idyllic (temperature, atmosphere and ground humidity) allowing acceleration in the development of the vegetation and correcting in some ways the delay at the beginning. Intermittent rains, mid May and beginning of June compliment the suitable development. Throughout the remaining vegetative cycle, the showers disappear giving way to disease free and exceptionally healthy fruit. Verasion begins at the start of August and develops rapidly. At the end of August an important thematic contrast occurs, (warm/sunny days and cool nights) which provokes and acceleration in the maturation and an important accumulation of fenolic compounds in the grapes. During the second week of September, there is a decrease in temperatures which delays maturation. Harvest begins during the last week of September, 15 days earlier than usual and in exceptional climatic conditions. Spectacular bunches are collected, in terms of maturity, health and presence, which results in structured, elegant and extraordinary well balanced wines. As of 12 October, with 10% of the harvest still to be collected, rain (80 litres/m2) provokes a significant difference to the remaining must, in comparison to the grapes which were harvested previously.