Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay is made from grapes sourced from Errazuriz’s La Escultura Estate in DO Valle de Casablanca.

Errazuriz Estate was founded in 1870 when Don Maximiano Errazuriz planted his first vineyards at Panquehue in the Aconcagua Valley – 100km North of the capital. Errazuriz’s philosophy is best expressed by Don Maximiano who said, “From the best land, the best wine.” The La Escultura vineyard is located west of Santiago and just 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the Casablanca Valley enjoys a coastal influence that moderates temperatures during the ripening period. The fresh sea breeze enables easy, gradual ripening that encourages the conservation of the grapes’ aromas and flavours and ensures desirable levels of acidity. These conditions make the Casablanca Valley a privileged place for producing cool climate varieties such as Chardonnay

Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay is so called because fermentation is carried out using only native, wild yeast. The wild yeasts are not selected using technological criteria (SO2 resistance, alcohol resistance, etc) and experience higher stress during fermentation. This effect and the presence of a greater variety of yeast strains produces different concentrations and proportions of by products, adding distinctive flavours, and therefore more complexity, to the wine. Fermentation was carried out at 18-24°C (64-75°F) and approximately 60% of the final blend underwent malolactic fermentation. Errazuriz Wild Ferment Chardonnay was then aged for 10 months in French oak barrels, 10% of which were new.