The 2018 harvest in Los Lingues estate, Alto Colchagua, started preceded by a dry and warm summer without extreme temperatures. The first variety, Merlot, were harvested on March 1st, and ended on April 25th with Carignan. Cristobal Undurraga, Koyle´s chief winemaker comments: “The key factors of this harvest were the heavy rains during winter and spring, and moderate temperatures on March and April, which provided the perfect conditions for the ripeness of this vintage.” With almost 30% of the wines in barrels and concrete eggs and without the malolactic fermentation finished, we can already see that this harvest will give wines with good balance between acidity and alcohol: 13, 8° and 3, 50 pH for Cabernet Sauvignon from block D4 and 14, 2° and 3,58 pH for Carmenere in block G2. Also, great color and mature tannins that will allow to obtain a great aging potential.
Description by seasonWinter 2017: coming from a very warm 2017 summer, the rain started the first week of May, with a total of 100 mm that month. The snow in the mountains was good since June, cooling down the valley and bringing cool hours that the vine enjoyed. We received a beautiful snow over the vineyard at the end of July, the rest of the winter gave us another 300 mm of rain until the end of September. This weather conditions gave us a fantastic winter.
Spring 2017: October started with another 80 mm of rain, but with mild conditions, permitting the vines to get up late, but with enough energy. November warmed up and flowering came almost 20 days later that 2017.
Summer 2017 - 2018: with a mid-warm and complete dry December, January and February, the grapes started the veraison (color change) in late January. No extreme temperatures permitted the grapes the chance of a very slow ripening. The size of the berries started looking normal, giving a slowly ripening due to good yields and cool spring that brought a late seasonal physiological ripeness.
Coastal Region In Paredones and Itata valley the conditions were very similar, with good yields and late picking. A rain of 10 mm in Itata at early March helped to refresh the grapes and finish the ripeness.
Cristóbal Undurraga Viticultor and Chief Winemaker
Harvest calendar
· Merlot: March 1st
· Cabernet Franc: March 4th
· Tempranillo: March 6th
· Cabernet Sauvignon: March 15th - block D6
· Syrah: March 17th
· Pinot Noir: March 21st
· Muscat: March 22nd
· Sauvignon Blanc: between March 24th and April 9th.
· Malbec: March 25th
· Grenache: March 27th
· Carmenere: March 28th - block G2
· Cinsault: April 3rd
· Petit Verdot: April 2nd
· Mourvedre: April 7th
· Carignan: April 23rd