Chardonnay Mendoza 2020 – Kaiken Ultra

The grapes to produce the Chardonnay Mendoza Kaiken Ultra were hand harvested into small, 10 kilogram boxes and sorted manually. Alcoholic fermentation lasted for 21 days at temperatures of around 16°C. 65% of the juice was fermented in small concrete tanks to preserve freshness and purity of the fruit. The rest of the juice was fermented in new French oak barrels, where it remained for 12 months. The wine finally spent two months in bottle before release.

The grapes are sourced from two different areas in Mendoza. 90% of the grapes come from Altamira in the Uco Valley, which provides freshness and minerality, and 10% from Vistalba in Luján de Cuyo, which gives concentration to the blend. Soils are sandy loam, providing ideal conditions for growing Chardonnay. Plants are trained to the vertical shoot positioning system and yield an average of six tonnes per hectare.

Kaikenes are wild geese, native to Patagonia, that fly across the Andes between Chile and Argentina. In the same way, Montes, the Chilean winery, crossed the Andes to set up in Mendoza. Their vineyards are situated in the heart of Mendoza and further to the south in Valle de Uco, where many of the premium producers are now sourcing their fruit. The focus is primarily on Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, a variety that has been somewhat forgotten as Malbec has surfed one wave of success after another in the past decade. As a result, there are many old vineyards in Mendoza that produce excellent fruit. Kaiken’s own vineyards supply 70% of their production requirements and 30% is from vineyards that they control.