Rational development of high-end malbec in the Piedmont of Mendocino

Whenever a winemaker or production manager is motivated to design a competitive product, he must understand the organoleptic and technical characteristics that the wine must develop.

A noble malbec, great wine, "unique vineyard" or private reserve of the family must possess an emblematic profile that identifies it with the originality of the terroir and the philosophy of the cellar.

Must be able to leave unforgettable memories, easy to recognize.

Therefore, we must know what are the sensations of a prestigious Malbec wine.

Sensory qualities of a great malbec wine

Prior experience of several prestigious and expensive bottles of wine is needed to understand and appreciate the typicity, complexity, bouquet and extensive flavor of a great wine.

We will attempt to describe the defining qualities of a complex malbec, lineage and ancestry.

• in the view

A bright red color, deep, dark, almost black. With embroidered shades, stable during his first five years of development – servant and packaging. Then turn very slightly towards the ruby ​​reds during the following years.

"You have to fall in love with a big Malbec at first sight".

• on the nose:

The seduction begins with its typical sweet aroma of black fruits (blackberry, plum, cherry), fresh, jam or dried.

Some soils are expressed by the intense aroma of red flowers, especially violets and roses.

Other soils exalt wild aromas of truffle, leather, graphite, smoked meat or old moist forest.

In tall vineyards, it usually has balsamic aromas of mint – thyme – rosemary and eucalyptus.

With aging in the wood, the aromatic intensity of the oak increases: aromas of vanilla, coconut, clove, roasted coffee, dark chocolate, grilled butter, black pepper.

These aromas must never be distinguished from the varietal character.

With aging in the bottle, from the first nine months (like a happy birth), the aromas of fruit and moderate wood melt. And in still little known reactions, in the hermetic closure of an excellent cork, they express an intense bouquet.

The traces of a great wine are in the delicacy of its bouquet, reminiscent of pleasant autumn and winter aromas of nuts, almonds and hazelnuts, fruit red jam, tobacco, dried leaves, hard logs from a stove in a new wood

After ten years, a complex and concentrated malbec usually requires the decanter service or crystal copones to open up its aromatic profile.

• In the mouth:

Confirmation of a story of love or craze must happen.

To attack, on the tip of the tongue, moderately dry, insinuating its heat when alcohol, exceeds 13 ° Gl

On the palate, it shows its low natural acidity and generous body, as it opens, permeating all the tongue and palate, expressing the finesse of its aromas and bouquet.

In the vineyards of height, it shows more freshness, acidity and fluidity.

And at the end of the mouth, like a superb chemical symphony, will come all that is distinct from a great malbec. Its nice tannins, broad, moderately dry. Its volume, its soft and warm structure, its natural flexibility and its charm.

Their caudalias are extended and always a great malbec, motivates the sense of touch, to suggest a second sip to continue with the pleasure.

Sometimes the content of a bottle does not reach its goal, whether it is consumed as a couple, with a good friend, a loved one or a good company.

It's the magic of a Gran Malbec, it has the warmth and hospitality of the winemakers who manufacture it.

We will now try to describe the "know-how", or the basis for designing a high-expression malbec wine.

Wine basins (wine is the first grape that is born and developed in the vineyard).

– Selection of vineyards in the cool regions, at the foot of the Andean mountains. For Mendoza, the upper part of the Mendoza River, the Uco Valley and some terroirs of San Rafael, located between 800 and 1,200 meters above sea level. At higher altitudes, the grapes are intensely colored in the skin, their pulp does not mature enough, their style is lighter, acidic and austere.

– Vines of vigor and controlled production. Preferably high planting density and old, with more than thirty years. The volume of the roots is fundamental to mark the typicity and resist stress.

– High varietal purity greater than 90%.

– For tillage in deep clay soils, with subsoiler, plow and uncoiler.

– The mbad and clonal selection of the variety, terroirs and winemakers attached to quality, is the most lively goal of the future, in search of the typicality and originality of a Gran Malbec. This is the basis of a "unique vineyard"

– Guyot size or quilted cord, for an average production of two kilos per plant. A kilogram of fruit per square meter of canopy is a balanced production.

– Rational and intelligent control of vigor with low water intake and chemical fertilizers.

– Precise program of preventive applications of sulfur and copper to protect plants against attacks of thrips, Oidium and Peronospora (mildew).

– Size in green – vertical positioning and partial defoliation in the profile of the lattice exposed to the east, to accumulate the first hours of sun.

– Promote low cell multiplication after taking to obtain small grains (15 to 20% smaller than normal).

– Final cut of the irrigations after having finished the veraison or the pint of the bunches. Or 20 days before the harvest, to avoid exaggerated magnification of this grape. This water restriction depends on the environmental conditions of January, February and March.

– During the two weeks preceding the harvest, periodically check (1-2 times / week) the sugar content (° Brix) of the total acidity (g / l expressed in tartaric) and the pH. With the rigorous taste of the grains find the balance of flavors and the definitive loss of rough and bitter tannins, on the skin and the seed. It is also possible to define the extractability of the anthocyanin pigments, by tasting or laboratory badysis.

– The window of the fruit – the elegance and finesse of this grape are between 23 and 24 ° Bx, with the highest possible acidity

– Three days before the harvest, you must perform a total defoliation in the fruit zone for a final exposure to light and a clean harvest.

Malbec hides the fruit, with its whole leaves, large and abundant.

Oenological bases:

• clean harvest. Only the healthy and ripe fruit. No leaves, bouquets of secondary flowers, sticks and other strangers that do not make wine.

• In fine wines, the selection ribbon is very necessary. It is the last most sublime act in the contribution of quality and distinction to high-end wine made from the good grape.

• Soft and complete destemming. Smooth grind, trying to open and unfold the skins of grain. It is interesting to open the rolls to allow a high percentage of whole grains carbonic maceration.

• Gentle treatment when transporting raw and ground grapes.

• Put the crushed grapes in small containers (wider than tall) to try an elongated and thin pomace.

• The ideal volume should not exceed 100 Hl, for better management of maceration and fermentation rules.

• Prior bleeding of 10 to 15% is an essential operation in the search for the concentration and the volume of the flavor of this particular grape variety.

• Initial dose of sulfur dioxide

Use or not selected yeasts.

Adjustment or not of the total acidity.

Number of lifts. Cuts. Pegging

Total fermentation time. Maceration

Fermentation temperature – handling and control.

These oenological conditions are decided by the oenologist or winemaker, like the chef, with condiments and the preparation of an exquisite dish.

Here you will find the great secrets of the author's wines.

• The permanent tasting of the must – the wine, throughout the fermentation process, is a very suitable profession for deciding the appropriate oenological operations (development and fixation of the color – appearance of reduced or sulphurous aromas – to prolong the maceration – for decide the desborre and the).

• The pressing of the marc is a delicate work, where the skin and the seeds impregnated with high quality wine must be treated gently. This can give great satisfaction when it is well done. Continuous pressing with screw presses is not recommended.

• Once the fermentation is complete, the dangers of atmospheric and bacterial contamination can rapidly deteriorate the considerable work that has just been done. Its control and protection are essential.

• Malolactic fermentation (F.M.L.) is a very common and natural microbiological mechanism in our region. It is important to control the balance of acidity and wine tasting to decide on the racking regimes and self-clarification.

• Malolactic fermentation can be oriented simultaneously with aging in barrels, but it is a complicated operation because it can be uneven and delayed. He needs a lot of control and dedication.

• Aging in wood is an oenological task of great sensitivity, care and attention. "It requires rigor and French discipline."

– The choice of the type of oak, the quality of the barrel and its roasting.

– Aging time and temperature and humidity conditions.

– The periodic fills and the shelving system.

– The high level of hygiene of the aging cellar.

– The badytical and sensory control of each barrel, every month.

– The addition of egg white 20 days before cutting.

Raising great wines is a job that requires love, discipline and pbadion.

• Cut and mix wines before bottling is the ceremonial and artistic act of the winemaker. Many times, it takes the right moment of inspiration to find harmony, roundness, balance. It will always be necessary to share the cutting tests with the work team.

• Assembling parcels – badembling terroirs – badembling clones – symphony with other noble grape varieties (Cabernet – Petit Verdot – Tannat – Merlot – Syrah) are fascinating moments of the oenological team.

• French winemakers advance cuts or blends, before malolactic fermentation and aging in wood. Even today, they try to mix the grapes with a co-fermentation.

• Bottling is ultimately the operation that requires the greatest scientific rigor:

– Hygiene and efficiency in reducing germs (Brettanomyces yeasts – lactic and acetic bacteria) to less than 10 u.c. per bottle.

– Minimum dissolved oxygen content (less than 0.8 μm).

– Suitable molecular sulfur dioxide (minimum acceptable 0.5 μm).

– Fair carbon dioxide (between 200 and 300 ppm)

– High clarity (less than 1 N.T.U.).

– storage temperature and aging below 15 ° C

In trying to respect the maximum of these viticultural and oenological bases, only time, patience and silence will be necessary.

In this way, the masterpiece, his ancestors, his nobility, his added value, a limited work, exclusively reserved for exclusive works, are realized.

With such a wine, it remains only to find unforgettable moments of gastronomy between friends, children, parents, wife or husband, in love.

"Never alone or alone" … would be very selfish and unhealthy.