Secret Malbec 2022

The grapes come from the El Olivar vineyard, near the town of Peralillo, in the heart of the Colchagua Valley, Chile. The vines, averaging 23 years old, are rooted on a gently sloping piedmont with clay soils mixed with gravel, porous and well drained. This site gives the Malbec an expression that is ripe, fresh and structured.

The grapes are harvested during the first week of April, then destemmed and put into stainless-steel tanks. A three-day cold pre-fermentation maceration precedes alcoholic fermentation with native yeasts, carried out at 26–28 °C with four pump-overs a day. Part of the blend goes through malolactic fermentation in oak barrels. Ageing lasts ten months: 8% in French oak barriques, 18% in foudres, 3% in concrete eggs and 71% in stainless-steel tanks.

This wine reveals notes of cherry, red fruits, blackberry, blackcurrant, violet, dried leaves, tobacco, forest floor and graphite. The palate offers supple, savoury fruit of good volume, enlivened by balancing freshness. The firm yet silky tannins frame the fruit and prolong the tasting into a deep, persistent and slightly mineral finish.

It was Hernán Cortés who, from the very conquest of Mexico, ordered vines to be planted in 1524. Winegrowing gradually spread south from Mexico, reaching Chile in 1555. During the first 3 centuries of colonisation, the only grape grown in Chile was país, a characterless, very productive black grape variety. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that noble varieties were introduced: mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Twenty years later, winemaking was modernised under the impetus of wealthy landowners and French experts who had been put out of work by phylloxera in Europe. Chile stretches 4,300 kilometres from north to south. It is squeezed between the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Andes to the east, the Atacama Desert to the north, and the plains and glaciers of Patagonia to the south. These natural barriers prevented phylloxera from entering the country. Although the country is only 160 kilometres wide, it enjoys ideal conditions for growing grape varieties from hot, intermediate and cool regions alike, so much so that it is often described as a paradise for winegrowing. With nearly 300 estates producing bottled wine, Chile ranks between 6th and 8th in the world.