Viu Manent San Carlos Malbec, Colchagua

Description

Viu Manent San Carlos Malbec is a single vineyard wine sourced from grapes from the family’s prestigious San Carlos vineyard.

Viu Manent is a family owned business founded in 1935 by expatriate Catalan Miguel Viu Garcia and sons. Initially the family prospered as a negociant wine business but, in 1966, they finally fulfilled the dream of owning their own winery with the purchase of the Hacienda San Carlos de Cunaco. It is here in the Colchagua valley where their vineyards are located and the estate includes 150 hectares of pre-phylloxera vines. Today the estate totals over 260 hectares of vineyards spread over three locations San Carlos, La Capilla and El Olivar with some vineyards in Casablanca for their white wines. The San Carlos vineyard is one of the oldest in Chile having been established in the 19th century with pre-phylloxerra root stock from France.

Viu Manent San Carlos Malbec is made from 100% Malbec sourced from the best blocks, blocks 5 and 6, located near the town of Cunaco in the San Carlos vineyard. The vines here are over 100 years old and are located on deep and porous soil which allows for prolific root development and great drainage, excellent for the production of high-end Malbec. The grapes are harvested by hand with an initial selection in the vineyard, they are then transported to the cellars where they are hand sorted on sorting tables, gently destemmed and any unripe or dehydrated berries were discarded. The wine is vinified in a combination of stainless steel and cement eggs where they underwent 5–7-day pre-fermentation maceration at 10ºC. Alcoholic fermentation took place with native yeasts and 4 pump overs per day, ending with a post-fermentation maceration for approximately 10 days. Finally the wine was aged for 14 months in four types of containers: 61% in French oak barrels (15% new), 21% in untoasted French oak foudres, 15% in concrete eggs, and 3% in clay tanks.