Viña Anakena lies at the feet of the Andes Mountains range and, in general, the Alto Cachapoal area has a mediterranean-type climate with an average annual temperature of 13.1°C. The average maximum temperature in January is 29.8°C, while the average minimum temperature in July is 1.7°C.

The difference between day and night temperatures in summer is more than 19°C; this marked variation gives an optimum concentration of aromas, colour and tannins that define the characteristics and originality of each wine.

This harvest 2010 was influenced by the ¨Niño¨ effect –that is the warming of the Pacific sea current– with higher temperatures in the ocean, and an inland effect of more rains during winter, with lower average temperatures in spring and a short summer.

Springtime 2009 was cool and rainy, with frost problems in some regions of the Central Valley that limited the production up to 40% less in the most extreme cases. This cooler condition delayed the harvest time for two to three weeks in some varieties.

There were almost no rains during the harvest period, even in the begging of fall, so we could wait for the adequate ripeness of the white and red varieties.

This harvest was also special since just before the beginning of harvest, on February 27th, we had one of the most intense earthquakes in Chilean History, 8,8 intensity in the Richter scale in the epicenter, and 8,2 in the central area, were we are located.

Nevertheless the period of the year when the earthquake occurred could have been worse for the Chilean wine industry, in the sense that the end of February, just before the beginning of the harvest, is the time of the year where the wine inventory is at the lowest. The fact that the harvest was delayed in ripeness in two weeks helps also in recovering from the earthquake before the harvest, so we could be fully focused on the harvest.

For Viña Anakena in particular the losses were not substantial, less than 2% of the wine and very minor damage in the winery buildings.


 

  

Production

This 2010 harvest began on March 8th and finished on the same date as 2009, on May 18th, a total of 71 days.

The first variety to be harvested was the Sauvignon Blanc from our own vineyards in the Alto Cachapoal region, and the last grapes to be picked were the Carmenère from the Ninquén Hill in Colchagua Valley.

Our new Sauvignon Blanc vineyards in Leyda Valley, planted on the year 2007 and 2008 (68 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc clon 242, 107, 1D and 5), close to the Pacific Ocean and next to the port of San Antonio, are now at 50 % of its expected steady state yield. It is going to take us many years to know the differential potential of all the different blocks do to the different clonal selection, slope, orientation and soil texture of this vineyard. There are clearly different riping times according to clonal selection and orientation: we started harvesting the Sauvignon Blanc from Leyda on March 23rd and finished on April 21st.

In the cellar we received the Sauvignon Blanc grapes in a reductive long pre-fermentation maceration of 6 to 9 hours to enhance the aroma extraction from the skin of the grape. This year we fermented at slightly higher temperatures than last year (starting with 14°C and finishing at around 18°), since we have not seen a straight correlation between relatively very low temperatures of fermentation and significant retention of aromas profiles.

We believe that yeast strain selection is quite significant in the final aromatic profile of the Sauvignon Blanc, in particular. The intensity of the tropical characters (mainly volatile thiols) appears to be quite dependent on the wine yeast strain (and is also influenced by viticulture practices such as irrigation and nitrogen conditions and fermentation temperatures). This year the yeast strains that we used were VL3, Vin 7 and B2000, among others, yeast strains that have given us very good and sound performances in the previous harvests.

This year the expression of the Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay varieties from the Leyda region is superb, intense and fresh, with a powerful fruit expression in the wines. The quality is excellent, and this is the reason that this valley is becoming one of the most renowned regions in Chile for white wines and Pinot Noir.

Chardonnay from our own vineyards in Requínoa (Alto Cachapoal Valley) was harvested between March 24 and March 26. Chardonnay from Casablanca was harvested between April 15 and 16. The grape quality was excellent, fresh fruit and concentrated.

The Viognier variety from the Alto Cachapoal was harvested from the begging to the middle of April, and for Late Harvest in mid-May, with the consistency of fruit expression and complexity that is known for this variety in Anakena.

This 2010 harvest we experimented, in small quantities, with new vinification techniques in the Viognier and Chardonnay varieties for our top lines; whole grape clusters pressed in the pneumatic press and from the press directly to oak barrels without decanting: the results seem very promising so far, a great length that will give us extra complexity in the final blend.

The Pinot Noir from Rapel was harvested on March 25, two weeks later than 2009, good red fruit and nice balance between acidity and alcohol.

The Pinot Noir variety from Leyda was harvested between the first and second week of April. This was our second year of harvest of Pinot Noir from Leyda (planted in 2007 and 2008). The wines so far are excellent; the characteristics of Pinot Noir grape are defined, good red fruit and floral character, round tannins and a lot of freshness. The best of the Pinot lots goes to barrel to finish malolactic fermentation.

Merlot from Alto Cachapoal was harvested the first week of April, similar time as 2009. The wines show a lot of fruit and very good acidity, more than 2009; tannins are quite soft and gentle, so we expect a very good year for Merlot, with excellent fruit and freshness.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were harvested between mid-April and the first week of May, from our vineyard from Alto Cachapoal (planted in the year 1999) and our new plantings from Ninquén Hill, in the heart of Colchagua (planted year 2007 and 2008).

For our red varieties there was a differential work for the plots in the vineyards and in the winery for Varietal and the Reserve ranges.

The grapes from the vineyard plots for varietal wines had higher yields per hectares, and were fermented in average between 27 and 29°C, with 2 to 3 volumes of the tank pumping over at the beginning, and immediately rack just finishing fermentation or previous to it, to obtain fresh fruit and soft tannins. The idea is that red varietal wines are ready to drink young.

With the Reserve lots there was post maceration fermentation according to daily tasting by the winemaker team. In general the tannic structure of 2010 was good, giving long wines with round tannins that could wait for the right moment of racking.

It is relevant to express the impressive red fruit character of our new three year old planting of Cabernet grapes from Ninquen Hill in the heart of Santa Cruz. It has a more red-fruit character than our Cabernet from Alto Cachapoal, which is more of a blackcurrant style.

The last Red grape to be picked was the Carmenère from our Alto Cachapoal vineyards and from the new plantings in Las Cabras, next to the Cachapoal River. They were harvested between the end of April and the first two weeks of May.

Our new planting of Carmenère grapes from Las Cabras, next to the Peumo area (37,5 hectares planted in 2007 and 2008, now 60% of the expected production in steady state), are showing the potential of what we think is the best area in Chile for this particular grape: deep inky color wines, complex black fruit and soft but long tannins, indeed remarkable for this new vineyard.