El Esteco Old Vines Malbec

El Esteco Old Vines Malbec

ORIGIN

• Las Mercedes Estate – Plot No. 31 – El Esteco Winery, Cafayate Valley – Province of Salta – Argentina.

TERROIR

• Age of the vineyard: 72 years – Year of implantation: 1946
• Trellising system: Pergola trained own-rooted vines
• Row orientation: north-south
• Average yield: 8,500 kg/ha
• Irrigation System: surface furrow irrigation. Meltwater from the mountains.
• Soil: Sandy-loam texture – poor soils

VARITAL

Malbec

WINE MAKING

The crafting of this wine involves the careful marking and selection of each of the vines for harvesting. Once they have reached their optimal level of ripeness, the grapes are manually harvested into 18-kilo bins in the early hours of the morning, paying absolute attention to every detail along the way. They are promptly taken to the winery for winemaking. Once there, they go through a sorting line. Pre-fermentative maceration takes place in ovoid 3,000-litre vats for five days, after which the alcoholic fermentation immediately begins using native yeasts. After this stage, the wine is devatted and restored to the ovoid vats for the natural malolactic fermentation to occur. The wine is bottled unfiltered and aged in the bottle for the following 6 to 8 months