VIÑA CARMEN 2020 VINTAGE REPORT
“The 2020 harvest was, above all, a very challenging vintage but, at the same time, very exciting”, comments Emily Faulconer, Chief Winemaker of Viña Carmen.
Indeed, added to the usual challenges of every year, the global pandemic caused by the Covid-19 presented with additional issues, especially in terms of safeguarding the health of all the people involved in a harvest.
“This season was warmer than the historic average and also compared to last year”, says Gerardo Leal, Viticultural Manager of Santa Rita Estates, adding, “We had good climatic conditions during spring, so we had healthy grapes”. The phenolic development stages were completed two to three weeks earlier, so harvest began three weeks earlier than expected. In terms of volume, we had a decrease due to frost episodes in some valleys and some water restrictions to irrigate during the growth period and maturity stage. “This affected the size of the berries, which were smaller, but we have great quality in terms of aromas and flavors”, details Gerardo Leal.
Complementing the above, Tomás Muñoz, Assistant Winemaker at Carmen, says that the team was excepting a difficult harvest because of drought that has been carrying on for some time now and the heat waves. “We received the grapes earlier that imagined, and with the Covid-19 restrictions we had to work with less people in order to protect our teams”, he explains. “But thanks to the efforts of everyone in Carmen, we were able to make great wines, already showing good potential”.
“We had to react early to get the style that we wanted and to be able to respect what we look for vintage after vintage; this is, to show the terroir where the wines come from”, says Emily Faulconer. The Carmen team is very happy with the results, obtaining wines that are balanced, with good alcohol and pH levels, easy to drink with good acidity. “Every valley performed nicely to show the tipicity of each variety, the results are great and I cannot wait for all of you to taste them!” ends Emily.