HARVESTING & PROCESSING
Once the timing of the picking of the different plots has been decided,
the teams of grape-pickers make the first selection on the vine. Only
the healthiest, ripest bunches are packed into 14-kilogram boxes,
to prevent them from splitting or becoming bruised.
They are then sent straight to the winery, where they arrive in perfect
condition, ready to be processed.
Our delivery area outside the winery is where we receive the boxes on pallets, unloading them one by one onto the selection bench, where any below-standard bunches that happen to have slipped through are promptly removed.
After the stripper removes the bunches, the fruit and must are deposited in fermentation tanks.
We beging the processing of our grapes with one thing in mind: always showing the maximun respect for the raw material.
Our 15.000 litre-capacity stainless-steel tanks
were purpose-built for our winery with special features to ensure that
every last drop of potential is extracted from the grapes.
Each tank is fitted with a temperature control device that enables us to control the fruit.
The selective extraction of tannis is carried out with manual cap-plunging, pumping-over and long macerations.
Every day during the barrelling the wines are tasted, and with the aid
of analytical monitoring of polyphenol compounds, the appropriate time
for removal is determined.
Next, we press the grape skins in a vertical press working at low pressure-important if the wine is to be of optimal quality.
Now is the time for malolactic fermentation, part of wich is done in stainless-stell vats and the rest in oak casks.
AGING
After malolactic fermentation - and still without having undergone any kind of filtering or clarifying - the wine is moved to the aging casks.
We experiment with diferrent oak sources and different vatcuring levels
to obtain the best results for each type of wine.
The casks are located in our stone farmhouse, sheltered from sunlight and at ideal temperature and humidity level, for as long as the potential of each harvest and characteristics of each type of wine may call for.
After aging, the wine is clarified with egg white and then coarsely filtered, bottled and stored.
OUR WINE
The result of this laborious process is PITTACUM.
A fine wine with a complex bouquet and an attractive aroma, fruity and spicy with a mixed mineral background. Expressive and pleasant in the mouth. Balanced with the wood, and always respecting the variety and harmony of the wine.