Alto de la Ballena Tannat / Merlot / Cabernet Franc

Description

Alto de la Ballena Tannat / Merlot / Cabernet Franc is a red wine from Maldonado wine-growing region located in the south east of Uruguay. The modern wine history of Uruguayan wine production arguably starts back in 1870 where the Tannat grape was introduced to the country by mainly Basque and Italian immigrants. There are now over 8000 hectares of vineyard in Uruguay and it is the fourth largest wine producer in South America. Tannat is most famously the grape used to make the fantastic inky, dark wines from Madiran but has become very much Uruguay’s signature grape variety and is famed for its high levels of antioxidants, polyphenols, resveratrol and anthocyanins.

The idea for a small, quality winery was conceived in 1998 by husband and wife Paula Pivel and Alvaro Lorenzo. In 2000 they bought 20 hectares of land a few kilometres from the sea near Punta del Esta. The estate lies in the foothills at the base of the Sierra de la Ballena (the “whale hills”) hence the name of the estate and the use of the whale tail on the label. The soils here have very good drainage due to the steep slopes and the loose, gravelly soils. The soils consist mostly of crystalline rock, essentially weathered granite, with inlaid quartz.  The first vines were planted in 2001 with the first harvest in 2005. The estate now consists of some 8 hectares of densely planted Tannat, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Viognier. The vineyard yields are kept low to achieve good quality grapes and there is careful vineyard management such as deshooting, leaf removal, and cluster thinning.

The grapes for Alto de la Ballena Tannat / Merlot / Cabernet Franc are hand harvested into small boxes at optimal maturity. The different grape varieties are fermented separately in temperature controlled stainless steel with daily pumping overs to improve extraction. Some of the wine is aged in American oak. The blend for the 2009 is 50% Tannat, 35% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc.