Caliterra Tributo Sauvignon Blanc, Casablanca

Description

Caliterra Tributo Sauvignon Blanc is a single vineyard wine made from grapes grown in Chile’s Casablanca Valley.

Caliterra was established in 1996 as a joint venture between the families of Robert Mondavi and Vina Errazuriz. In January 2004 Vina Errazuriz became the sole owners of Caliterra, at the heart of which is the impressive 1000ha Caliterra Estate. The Colchagua Valley is home to the Caliterra Estate, located 200 km south of Santiago and 60 km from the coast at 150 metres above sea level. Caliterra Estate has approximately 1,085 ha with approximately 75% of untouched land and Mediterranean climate, where cool nights and gentle breezes temper the sun’s energy creating perfectly ripe, intense, concentrated and balanced wines. The name Caliterra is taken from ‘Calidad’ spanish for quality and ‘Tierra’ meaing land.

The grapes for the Caliterra Tributo Sauvignon Blanc are sourced from between 7 and 9 parcels of vines in Caliterra’s San Tomas Vineyard which is planted on degraded granitic and quartz clay. It is 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes are hand-picked very early in the morning to keep the fruit cool before processing. They are then are gently de-stemmed and undergo a period of cold maceration prior to pressing. Fermentation is with 93% selected yeasts & 7% native yeasts and takes place at a cool 14C to preserve the wine’s freshness, aromas and intensity in 93% stainless steel tanks and 7% in second fill Acacia barrels. There is no malolactic fermentation and 7% of the wine undergoes barrel ageing in Acacia barrels for 4 months.