Articles
Tell us how you made the Open Barrel. What is the story behind this wine?
The idea of producing a wine in 'open barrel' began in a harvest in which I participated in the Priorat, in Catalonia, where grapes are vinified with this method almost for necessity. Because each vineyard is so small, producing so few kilos, that in order not to mix grapes from different vines they found this way, they ferment in barrels. I learned how to open the barrel head -all the carpenter work-, and replace the hoops, though I found it interesting to do it for sensory change in the wine. They do it for necessity, but I tasted the wine from the tank and also from the barrel and noticed that the results were quite different.
When did you put this finding into practice?
As soon as I returned. At our winery we tried with Tannat, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon in eight barrels: we did four of Tannat, two of Petit Verdot and two of Cabernet Sauvignon, so the assemblage was 50%, 25% and 25%.
What was the process?
The destemming was done by hand, the grapes were put into the open barrel, cooled a little and macerated in cold. The fermentation was conducted with autoctonous yeasts, 100% indigenous yeasts. What I tried to do is punching the cap often but very softly, 5 or 6 times a day to prevent drying. The fermentation was traditional in time (15 days for Tannat, 12 days for other varieties). After this stage, solids were separated from the liquid by hand with a sieve. I realized that when the new oak was in contact with the grapes from the beginning, the wine was much milder, it amalgamated much better. The pressing was performed manually and very gently, so as not taking anything aggressive. We poured the wine in a tank for a few hours until I closed the barrels again, washed them and returned the wine into them. I did not know how long it would be, it was my first trial. I tasted every month and then around the seventh we thought it was the optimum time for bottling, which we did without clarifying or filtering, with a thin hose directly from the barrel, filling bottle by bottle. There may be some sediment deposited in some time, but It does not matter because we made very few bottles and the buyer will understand the reason for the sediment, valuing the entire process. The truth now is that every day that passes, I'm happier with the wine.
Which would you say is the laydown potential?
Though it will evolve quite well, it is practically a wine is ready to drink. I think the best point will be reached in a year, but it is a wine that could lay down quietly for ten years. To me it is really good right now, I like wines that are alive. We are very happy because the wine is a 2009 vintage, it has less than a year and it is good enough. Ready to drink, tamed. This wine won a very important elegance.
You made very few bottles...
Yes, 1070. A very small number.
What will be the destination of those bottles?
Half of them were already exported to Canada. Daniel (Pisano) took a bottle with him in his las trip, just to say "I can show something new." The sommelier who works for the Government tasted it and immediately asked about its price. We replied that it was not for sale, but she insisted. So we put a price, at the level of our Arretxea, and she asked to buy all the bottles. We refuse to that, we only sold her half of them.
Does the wine have a particular name?
For Canada, we named it Elisa's Dreams. Elisa is Daniel's wife. We had no labels for this wine. Elisa is an artist, she paints, and made a very nice drawing that represents a dream she had, so we used that picture for the label. It is a very nice picture, with a set of blacks and whites, a very crazy design. In Uruguay, we just call the wine Barrica Abierta (Open Barrel).
Will this wine participate in competitions?
I do not know ... Maybe this wine is valued more by knowing what the whole process was. Anyway, we are sending almost no wine in competitions. For a long time we did and we won prizes for four or five years straight. But for now we are not participating.
Are you going to repeat the experience this year?
Yes, we will repeat it with the same varieties, and we will try also with Pinot Noir and Syrah.
on wineries in Uruguay.
