Floresta wines, majestic and unique, are the result of the outstanding creativity from winemakers who strive to handcraft these remarkable wines by combining only the finest climate, soil and grape variety characteristics obtained from each of Santa Rita’s most exclusive terroirs, located in the best winelands of Chile.

Vineyards

The vineyards are located in Pumanque sector of the Colchagua Valley, and were planted in 2005. This area is new to viticulture and has granitic clay soils developed from original volcanic material that is typical of the coastal mountains. They have very good permeability, a depth that varies between 80 and 120 cm, and a low pH that must be adjusted prior to planting and moderate potential. The local climate is infl¬uenced by the Pacific Ocean and attenuated by the Coastal Mountains, which moderates the temperature during the day while also preventing extreme drops during the night, for an average daily temperature oscillation of 14°C. The good climate conditions during the day allow for good ripening in the Merlot.

Vinification

The grapes were handpicked into 400 kilos bins to convey them to the winemaking process.  A 10% of the grape bunches were deposited entire into the fermentation tank and the rest were destemmed without crushing. The grapes underwent a week-long cold soak prior to fermentation at 28ºC with délestage (rack and return) for additional extraction during the first two-thirds of the process and then received daily pump-over (remontage) until the end. The new wine remained on its skins for a period for greater balance.