Blending our wines
Very rarely is wine made from a single varietal. In Argentina, for wines to be called a single varietal they must contain at least 85% of that varietal. We visit our vineyard each year in November or December to taste our red wines which have been in barrels since they completed the fermentation process (in April or May) to determine the blend for our Gran Corte (a bourdeaux style blend) and determine if we need to blend any other varietals to make our reserve Merlot, Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon wines. This blending process is closely monitored by Mariana Onofri to ensure that we produce wines with a classic and elegant style. Once we have made our blending decisions the wines are blended and remain in first and second use oak barrels for another 10-12 months under the careful supervision of the winemaking staff.
Our blending teams
The blending process takes a couple of days for the team to make the prelimanry blending decisions, but the wines are continually monitored for the next 10-12 months by the winemaking staff. Our winemaking team varies from year to year based on the commitments of our "day jobs" so we rely heavily on the knowledge and experience of our winemakes and the staff at the winery. It is a tough job but someone has to do it. Occupational hazards include purple teeth and more than a few headaches the mornings after these sessions.