Montes Folly Apalta Vineyard Syrah 2020
This wine is a deep red colour with purple hues. On the nose are intense aromas of ripe black fruits such as blueberry and blackberry, accompanied by notes of leather, black pepper and sweet spices. The French oak is very well-integrated and displays notes of tobacco, vanilla and toast.
The grapes are sourced from a single parcel on the highest, steepest slopes of Apalta's 'Finca Apalta', arguably one of the finest sites for red wine grape growing in Chile. The Guyot-trained vines are planted on 45° slopes providing good exposure to aid ripening, and the soils are of granite origin and consist primarily of eroded rock from the mountain chain above. They are thin with low organic matter and good drainage, which encourages the roots to dig deep in search of water. This results in vines producing low yields of grapes with tremendous concentration and character. Despite being 60 kilometres from the ocean, its cool breezes moderate this warm area. Low night-time temperatures further prolong ripening, allowing for the slow development and retention of varietal aromas and acidity. Yields are very small at 3.5-4 tonnes per hectare.
Grapes underwent a meticulous dual sorting process in the winery, once by machine using camera 'eyes' to reject less than perfect grapes, and once by hand. Only perfect berries made the final cut for this wine. Fruit underwent cold soaking for five days at 10°C to extract aroma and colour, before fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks for 12-15 days at 26-29°C. After malolactic conversion, the wine was aged in French oak barrels, 80% new and 20% third use, for 18 months before bottling.
