I always count it a great privilege to meet those who produce wine and such was the case this week. Noelia Orts was in town from Emiliana organic winery and she brought wine with her! She has been a part of the Emiliana family since 2011 after completing her Master’s degree in Enology and Viticulture at the University of Chile. Her resume is vast and includes Miguel Torres in Spain, Oyster Bay in New Zealand and many others.
Emiliana is 100% certified Organic and Biodynamic. A great deal of work goes into being certified in both of these categories, and any vineyard that is Biodynamic is also Organic by nature. Just be careful on which days you choose to open your wine!
We had the opportunity to taste Signos De Origin White blend from 2014 as well as all the components that make up the blend individually from their 2015 vintage.
The first wines of our flight were the Chardonnays of 2015 aged in an array of different ways. The first and our favorite of the Chardonnays was the 2015 aged in an egg vat. These tanks seen below hold up to 600 liters of wine.
The vats allow for the wine to be in constant movement so these is no need to punch down or pump over the wine in order to break up the sediment thus allowing more less attention from winery staff. The Chardonnay produced in the eggs was very refreshing with notes of apricot, peach and passion fruit. Similar flavors can be found on the palette with the delightful taste of honey lingering in and a long finish. This Chardonnay is very approachable and would pair nicely with sunshine!
Our next two Chardonnays were from Foudre and Barrel. The Foudre seen below can range in size from 20 Hectolitres to 120 Hectoliters.
Due to size of these barrels and the thickness of the staves used in their production they impart very little flavors into the wine themselves and allow the wine to carry on its own flavors and sense of place.
The rest of the components that were on hand to try were the Viogner, Marsanne and Rouanne. All with varying degrees of aging as well including Barrel and Foudre.
The final blend for this year was 63% Chardonnay, 15% Viogner, 14% Marsanne and 8% Rousanne. Aging took place for 6 months in 66% French oak, 16% French Foudres and 18% Ovoid tank such as the concrete eggs above. The shortened time in aging allows for more of the fruit flavors and terroir to be present along with the sense of place.
Looking forward to this being on the local shelves so we can add it to our cellar!
For more information on this and other great wines of Emiliana please visit their website at: http://www.emiliana.cl/en/