Here in Mendoza we are in the midst of late fall, the yellow and red colors are resplendent in the streets and vineyards, the light is hazy with golden hues, and there is a brisk freshness to the breeze as you walk down the streets. Fall has flown by, but Cosecha 2010 was a whirlwind of activities and we are now able to look back and see everything that we were able to accomplish in such a short time. We had many of our Private Vineyard Estate owners on hand to harvest and process their wines and we are now carefully watching over them as they go through their first and second fermentations in our new winery. I was chatting with owner Barry Chaiken from Boston, who brought a troupe of friends to experience this almost magical process. Below is a brief recap of what he and his friends were able to experience. So, cheers to all the other Private Vineyard Estate owners that made wine this year- we are looking forward to tasting the final product!
Notes from the 2010 Harvest by Barry Chaiken
What a great trip!! Over a two week period I had 12 of my closest friends travel to Mendoza to share my first harvest at Chaiken Vineyards. In addition to touring the vineyard, we visited the newly built winery, met with the consulting winemakers, and sampled some of the best food in Argentina.
OK, here’s the news on the harvest. Due to a relatively cool summer, harvest was delayed almost two weeks. Although this prevented me from seeing the malbec being picked, it does offer great hope for the wines. Warm days were followed by cool evenings allowing the sugars and acidity to be in balance, which means more interesting and flavorful wines.
On my last visit to the vineyard our winemakers were blind tasting all the grapes from every vineyard determining the right day for picking. Although winemakers use equipment to measure BRIX (sugar levels), nothing is more important than how the grapes taste. Amazingly, each winemaker tastes more than four pounds during one of these sessions. Winemakers grade the grapes A, B, or C with A the highest rating. So how did we do? We got an A!!
Harvest of our malbec began the week of April 5th. Primary fermentation takes place over a two week period for each varietal with the malbec followed by syrah, cabernet franc, and then cabernet sauvignon. I should be getting a report on the how it’s all going real soon. Right now everyone both in Mendoza and here in the U.S. are excited about it all.
Chaiken Vineyards
www.chaikenvineyards.com
info@chaikenvineyards.com
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