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REVOLUTIONARY NEW VINIFICATION STANDARD FOR SPAIN
INTRODUCED FOR THE 2014 HARVEST IN CASTILLA – LA MANCHA
In our effort to make wines as natural as possible, even for basic wines, we have introduced new processing techniques for all the grapes of the 2014 harvest in Castilla – La Mancha.
The moment grapes are unloaded at the winery, they are covered with carbonic gas at low temperature, forming a white cloud on top. In this way we can eliminate the traditional addition of sulphur for the protection of the grapes and preventing an uncontrolled fermentation. Both the white and red grapes are immediately de-stemmed and transported to stainless steel tanks. The pipes for transport and the tanks are injected with carbonic gas.
For
all our white wines:
The grapes stay in the tanks for several hours for grape skin maceration to
obtain more aroma and structure.
The following step is to let the free run grape juice flow away to another
tank. The remaining grapes are going to the press. During this operation carbonic
gas is used again. Now the grape must is ready for fermentation
at a temperature between 15 and 17 ºC.
For
all our red wines:
The grapes in the tank are left alone to macerate for 1 or 2 days before letting
the fermentation take place at a temperature between 23 and 25 ºC. After
6 to 8 days the grape skins are separated from the fermenting must. These
grape skins go to the presses.
After finishing the fermentation we have obtained wines without any addition of sulphur.The technique we’ve used is resulting in wines with more intense aromas showing its real varietal character, more structure in the mouth and a more natural overall feel.
The
moment when bottling the wine, we feel the obligation to add a little bit
of sulphur dioxide to obtain a desired level of FREE sulphur in the bottle
to guarantee a proper shelf life, but the TOTAL level of sulphur dioxide of
the wine in bottle will be very low.
