All fruit was sourced from our own vineyard – located within the coolest, westernmost reaches of the Casablanca Valley. Sourced from a hillside block facing north-east, planted in 2006 on red clay soil derived from granite. Plant material is a massal selection, low in vigour and long established in Chile under the name of “Valdivieso clone.” Crop levels are an average of 3.5 tonnes per hectare (1.7 tons per acre). After a dry and relatively warm growing season, harvest was carried out by hand in 12kg picking cases during the week of 20th April, 2015. After arrival at the winery, the grapes were subjected to a whole cluster selection, followed by destemming (without crushing) and an individual berry selection before being gravity fed to a small open-top tank. A 5 day cold soak (at 5ºC/41ºF) ensued after which time the must was warmed and inoculated with selected yeasts and fermented during 6 days with temperatures peaking at 32ºC/90ºF. During fermentation the vats were hand-plunged twice daily in order to extract the ideal amount of tannin and colour. Following the completion of fermentation the young wine was then drained to a mixture of new (35%) and second and third use (65%) French oak barrels for 18 months during which time it was racked twice: once in the spring (upon the completion of malolactic fermentation) and then once again shortly before bottling in October 2016. After bottling the finished wine was aged for at least three months in our cellar prior to release.