Louis Latour Agencies

New wines from Viu Manent

29 April 2014

We are happy to announce that ViBo, the newest addition to the Viu Manent range, has now arrived at our warehouse. The range consists of two wines that illustrate Viu Manent’s rich viticultural heritage and the innovative steps they have taken with their newest plantings in the Peralillo sub region.

Colchagua’s Heritage: ViBo Viñedo Centenario 
51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot

Viñedo Centenario comes from San Carlos Estate, the location Viu Manent’s oldest vineyards, and celebrates their viticultural heritage. The English translation of Viñedo Centenario is Centennial Vineyards.

San Carlos Estate is one of the oldest in Chile and was established in the mid 19th century with pre-phylloxera stock imported from France. Today it contains vines that are more than 100 years old and it is from these locations that the grapes for Vinedo Centenario were selected. The deep soils are of alluvial origin with a sandy clay texture. They are extremely porous with excellent water retention qualities which allow the vines access to water throughout the year; this is especially important during the long, dry summer.

The grapes were hand-picked and manually sorted prior to de-stemming and crushing. A five day pre-fermentation cold soak followed before a native yeast alcoholic fermentation with just 1 to 2 short pumpovers a day to ensure only elegant tannins were extracted. The wine was then transferred to French oak barrels where natural malolactic fermentation took place and matured for 16 months.

Colchagua’s Future: ViBo Punta del Viento
68% Grenache, 21% Mourvèdre, and 11% Syrah

From Viu Manent’s El Olivar Estate located close to the town of Peralillo, this Mediterranean inspired blend represents the future of viticulture in the Colchagua Valley. Punta del Viento is the name of the mountain where El Olivar is located and means Wind’s Point in English.

In the 1990s Jose Miguel Viu Bottini, the company’s third generation managing director, began to search for new vineyards outside Colchagua’s traditional viticultural heartland. Extensive exploration eventually brought him along the valley to the foothills of the Coastal Ranges where he established El Olivar on land chosen for its low fertility rocky soils and steep 45° gradient hillsides.  The high percentage of rocks in the soil allows the vine’s roots to penetrate deeply amongst them whilst looking for air and water. This brings them into contact with a wide variety of minerals making this land ideal for the cultivation of grapes.

The grapes were hand-picked and manually sorted prior to de-stemming and crushing. A five day pre-fermentation cold soak followed before a native yeast alcoholic fermentation with just 1 to 2 short pumpovers a day to ensure only elegant tannins were extracted. The wine was then transferred to 2nd and 3rd use French oak barrels where natural malolactic fermentation took place and matured for 13 months.