2013 Santa Cruz Chilean Malbec from the M&M Grape Company. This Club is ALL IN!
It is no surprise that club members have been clamoring for a repeat of the last Chilean Malbec. It was outstanding. Paul Gatti, Assistant Winemaker at Millbrook Winery and Vineyards directed that movie to an Academy Award. But that was Bio Bio Valley Grapes. This year we go with the Santa Cruz sourced grapes. Let me refer you to last years post on this vineyard. Click here All Members are in and it leaves me to worry about…. well you know, why mention it now.
In order to accomplish this Frank Musto has agreed to crush and freeze one ton of these grapes for us to ferment in September. Frank the Juice Kurzatkoski will be in charge of this at M&M. Members are excited yet their innocence I am afraid makes them think they are ordering a Pizza. I understand their excitement but I also understand making Chilean Grapes….well let’s not talk about it at least not just yet. We will have plenty of time this spring to hear all about it long before we defrost these grapes. I will have my fingers crossed and I will be biting my nails. Can you do that at the same time? I think I can and will.
Just curious why you chose the malbec from the Santa Cruz Valley over the Curico Valley?
It is my understanding the Santa Cruz grapes are of a somewhat premium quality but do come with a premium price. If we are going to the trouble to pay for freezing and storage I think it makes sense to try to get the best available. But keep in mind this Spring when the reports come in on the forums there will be many posts on both of these grapes including the numbers and winemaker’s impressions. If you are buying in person it is nice to pick at at that time but with the Chilean availability that may not be possible without a pre order. I think it really depends on the amount you are getting. Making a Ton puts us in a different situation than a fellow buying 6 lugs. One thing is for sure before harvest you can rest assured Frank Musto will make last minute decisions and we might even end up with the other grapes based on harvest and weather reports. That is one reason why M&M is the best! and winemakers need to learn to be flexible, you are not ordering a pizza.
I have the 2012 santa cruz chilean Malbec that I made last year and it’s tasting amazing resting in a 27 gallon french oak Barell.
Good the hear Carmine! All the Boys are up for this. I have resisted doing it but after the great success in 2011 with the Bio Bio Grapes and now your report along with others I am looking forward to making it. Speaking of looking forward, We are going to have a Spring tasting dinner in April. I hope your team can make it and bring a barrel sample of your 2012 Malbec!
I bought in some of these last year. They arrived in absolute amazing condition and the numbers fell right into place so nothing done to the must. Did about 22 gallons now resting in a New 15G Vadaii Hungarian Oak Barrel (took the edge off it by finishing a prev ChileCab Syrah blend for 2 months first). The remainder in glass in case the oak gets away from me I can blend the 2.
It is developing nicely but could have used a bit more color and Tannins. Tasting from the barrel shows a lot of fruit still, good acid, and pretty drinkable right now. Not a big wine but a nice balanced wine right now. It will be interesting to see with age what happens when the fruit fades.
The fruit seems to be not so much cherry as raspberry/blueberry and maybe a bit of spice/coffee. Keeping the wood under control. Right now I plan to keep this as a single grape when bottled but time will tell.
Any reports from Frank on what kind of a growing season they have been having down in Chile this year.
I did some research for a French Cahors vs Argentine Malbec tasting recently and did find that they both acknowledge the need for extra measures for extraction for this grape:
.. > (Georges Vigouroux France) A very warm fermentation to start (90+) quickly cooling to a very slow extended rest on skins at cooler cellar temps to extract tannins and gain color for a dark stable and balanced wine
.. > (Argentina) Due to the thin skins the grapes are cold-macerated at the winery for 4 days to extract color.
They all seem to take lots of attention to keep the wood from overpowering the fruit.
I think your freezing will do nice for a better extraction
HI Jim
Frank has reported to me that the growing season they are having is perfect. Hope for a dry harvest time and we are in the money. I am a bit surprised reading about your wine not being big. I think anyone drinking the Bio Bio version would consider that a very big Malbec.
Freezing will certainly help out if this is case. Some fermentation tannins will help as well. I like the idea too of a big heat spike to lock in that color. At the moment I am considering BDX but I don’t think that is the best for a heat spike. Does anyone have any ideas about this?
Giving this more thought, I will ferment this in two 1/2 ton vats lending a perfect opportunity to use a D80/ D254 Combo. Anyone?????
I’ve used RC-212 and BDX on Chilean malbec with very good results. The BDX was my personal favorite–felt it gave a good mouthfeel and excellent color extraction.
I have nothing useful to add to this conversation, but it’s making me thirsty.
It’s ok Dan, you could be on Winemakingtalk where that is a natural occurrence.
I am liking a combo yeast ferment to add complexity. I won’t use RC 212. and BDX would be fine for a single yeast ferment.
We used rc212 on our 2008 chilean syrah won gold metals.Im sure it’s more than just the yeast that this wine was so amazing.We still have a few laying around.But way Gene do you say no to rc212?