Escándalo Semillón is made from vines planted in the Colchagua Valley in the 1940’s that are 75-80 years old.
Latitude of the Colchagua valley: between 34° 15 ́ and 34° southern latitude.
Colchagua valley has a hot, dry climate that is somewhat moderated by its proximity to the Pacific Ocean (70 km). Rainfall: 400-450/year
The soil is a mixture of clay, lime, and sand, alluvial in origin with average fertility, arable, with loose stone and metamorphic rocks at a depth of 30 cm. Flat topography with slight undulations. Arable area.
Irrigation: flood irrigation, depending on water regimes.
Vineyard: Gobelet system (head trained) converted to cane pruning (double cordon) with 8-10 buds per vine. Mechanical weed control (no chemicals). Fungal disease management with sulphur.
Vineyard produces a field blend with 10-15% of Sauvignon Vert ( Sauvignonaisse)
Bud burst: second week of September.
Harvest: last week of February- first week of March.
Winemaking
Hand harvest. Cold skin contact for 24-36 hours. Pressing, no settling of the must. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel.
Wine ageing: 80% in stainless steel and 20% in old French oak barrels. Battonage and stirring of lees during the whole ageing process. We usually do one or two rackings to clean gross sediments.
Natural sedimentation and stabilization by gravity and cold winter temperatures. No fining agents are used.
Bottling in November without filtering. We use pieces of pantyhose material to keep foreign matter out of the bottle.
Wine.
Alcohol %: 12-13.
pH: 3.2-3.3.
In the mouth it is a full-bodied wine, fresh, and textured. The wine has significant weight in the mouth; it is sherry-like with medium-high acidity and a long finish.
Visually it is a slightly cloudy wine because it is not filtered. The wine starts off with lemon-green tones that become straw-yellow as the wine evolves naturally, as well as the tones contributed by the wine ́s ageing in oak.
On the nose Escandalo Semillon reveals itself to be a wine with many layers. Its young notes place it in the range of flowers, white fruit, chili pepper, spices, tropical notes and honey. Other notes like wax, honey, tar, dried fruit, walnuts, caramel, and toasted hazelnuts appear as it evolves, as well as the presence of noble oxidation.
Serving temperature: 12-14°C. Uncork 40 minutes before serving in a stemmed glass. Use of a decanter or oxygenator is also considered ideal.
Pairing: Sea food pasta, paella, gravlax, clams, prawns, mussels, langoustines alla busara,
tuna sushi, lobster rolls, caviar dips, seared tuna, tiradito, chutney fish, ceviche, grilled octopus, anchovy toast.
The winemaking and nature of the grape make Escándalo Semillón a white wine that evolves positively until 5 years after its vintage.
