‘At this time of year, I spend 90% of my time in the vineyard. Every day I’m walking between the rows, checking the development of the grapes, thinking about whether or not to irrigate or to green harvest, and deciding when to pick. The challenge is in identifying the final composition of the wines, and thinking about which blocks might work well vinified together. So although we’re assessing individual parcels of vines, we’re constantly considering the bigger picture, to ensure that the final wine is greater than the sum of its parts. For that reason, you don’t want all the blocks to be consistent – you want different characteristics from each. It’s a skill I learned by spending time in the Médoc with our consultant there, Eric Boissenot, who helps us with the blend for our icon wine, Casa Real. 

‘This time of year is made more complicated by the fact that Santa Rita also makes wine from Limari and Apalta, and I’m constantly travelling between the three spots. Luckily, because we’re growing mainly Chardonnay and Syrah in Limari, we pick earlier, and we completed the harvest there in mid-February. Then it was on to Apalta, which we started picking at the end of March. And then back to Maipo, at Alto Jahuel, the soul of Casa Real. As it happened, we completed the harvest in Apalta on the same day as we started here in Maipo – last Thursday (April 11^th). That’s quite late for Maipo, due to an extended version, which was caused by a very hot summer in January and February, which closed down growth. But we’ve had some great weather since – cooler and fresher – which is perfect for the old vines, with their small bunches and thick skins, which are now full of ripe aromas and ripe tannins. Everything’s looking great for us to complete the harvest at the start of next week.’ 

ON

THE

LIST|

Elton

Muco

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WHAT I’VE LEARNED |

Sebastián

Zuccardi

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UNDER

THE

SURFACE |

Australia’s

fine-wine

ambitions

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