Viña La Rosa, 2021 Cornellana Volcano Sedimentario Cabernet Franc
Chile's oldest winery, Viña La Rosa was established in 1824 by Francisco Ignacio Ossa y Mercado, grandson of a Basque-native and mining entrepreneur from Northern Chile, and when drawn to the natural beauty of the Cachapoal region, he decided to purchase a farm and vineyards from Chile's first president Manuel Blanco Encalada. Today, the Ossa family's sixth generation is leading Viña La Rosa with the same passion for the land that inspired Francisco Ossa 200 years ago. And it is this passion and respect for land that is at the core of what the winery represents today, a 100% estate producer farming an impressive 600 hectares of vines with both organic and sustainable certifications across 3 estates in Peumo. In the cellar, the team is lead by head winemaker Gonzalo Cárcamo, who's been with La Rosa since 1998, and Gonzalo is supported in the cellar by winemaker Cynthia Ortiz Vidal.
And Viña La Rosa is very passionate about Cabernet Franc. They are farming 53 hectares, and while that doesn't seem like a lot in relation to the total, that actually represents one third of the Cabernet Franc planted in all of Cachapoal Valley. And from these 53 hectares, they are making 6 single varietal Cabernet Francs from across their various terroirs and the grape plays a role in their flagship blend, and alongside Carmenère it is represents the estate's flagship variety in their top single vineyard ranges including La Rosa, La Capitana Single Vineyard, and their newest range the Cornellana Volcano Sedimentario project, which is what we are looking at today.
Viña La Rosa and its vineyards are located in Peumo D.O. in the Cachapoal Valley, which is one of five regions that make up Chile's Central Valley, and encompasses the northern part of the larger Rapel river valley, and is bordered to the north by the region of Maipo and to the south by Colchagua.
When looking at the climate of the Cachapoal Valley, as is the case across Chile as a whole, a region or sub-region's proximity to the Pacific Ocean in the west or the Andes in the east can be more important than it's latitude in determining that region's climate, which is why terms like "Costa" meaning coast, or "Entre Cordilleras" or "Andes" are often used to indicate where the grapes are coming from and the climatic conditions that area experiences.
And in the case of the Cachapoal Valley, it is a U-shape region following the Cachapoal River, and is bound in the west by Chile's Coastal Mountain Range, or Cordilleras de Costa, and to east by the Andes Mountains, making it the only region in Chile's Central Valley without any vineyards in the Costa zone, so all of the sub-regions fall under the Entre Cordilleras or Andes zones. And vineyard elevation ranges from around 150m above sea level to upwards to around 950m above sea level depending on where you are.
The region's climate as a whole would be considered Mediterranean, with warm to hot summers and mild winters, and lower rainfall. But because of the valley's more north-south orientation following the Cachapoal River, the breezes from the Andes are more easily funnelled into the valley giving it a slightly cooler climate overall compared to the region of Colchagua to the south, and the coolest zones are in the western and eastern most parts of the region, where the vineyards are in the foothills versus the warmest areas on the valley floor at lower elevations.
In terms of soils across the Cachapoal Valley, on the valley floor you will typically find mostly richer alluvial silt-loams and clay loams, whereas as you move up in to the foothills you find a more complex patchwork of soils, such as granitic sands and gravels in the Andes zones, and stony, shallow sands, silts and clays of volcanic or granitic origin in the coastal foothills.
Looking a little bit closer at the Peumo DO, this is probably one of Chile's best known sub-region, and its calling card is Carmenère, which represents over 50% of the area under vine in the region. But, as is evident from La Rosa's work with Cabernet Franc, it too has adapted very well to this region's terroir, so let's look at some of the key features that influence viticulture here. The region is located in the western part of the Cachapoal Valley and is situated about 151 km south of the capital city of Santiago and 65km east of the Pacific Ocean.
And it is in the foothills of the Coastal Mountain Range, with an average elevation of 250 to 300m above sea level, which gives a wider diurnal range in temperatures, so cooler nights to offset the warmer day time temperatures. In addition, the region is on the north side of Cachpoal River right where the it starts to shift in that north-south orientation, so it is not only open to receive the cooling breezes from the coast in particular in the afternoons, but also the cooling influence from the Andes, which helps to moderate conditions and extend the growing season. In terms of soils, the soils picture is very diverse and quite complex, there is a mix of colluvium of volcanic origin, as well as shallower silts and clays also of volcanic origin, both offering balanced mix of water holding capacity and drainage.
Looking at the Cornellana Volcano Sedimentario project with a bit more detail, the project was born out of winemaker Gonzalo's passion for soils and desire to explore, understand and express the unique terroir of La Rosa's Cornellana estate in Peumo. To do this, they brought on world renowned terroir specialist Pedro Parra to analyse the quality of the soils and to better understand their structure and mineral composition. The result isolated a 2.2 hectare parcel of land focusing on three varieties Cabernet Franc, Carmenere and Syrah. There is 0.5 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines that were planted in 1999 by massale selection using heritage vine material and the vines are ungrafted. The vineyard has a gentle northwest exposure, and is at an elevation of about 250m above sea level. The vineyard is essentially sitting on a plateau at the apex of two smaller mountain ranges, giving this location immense geological complexity, which ultimately was the inspiration for the project.
So each variety is planted in a slightly different soil that is in this 2.2 hectare vineyard, with the commonality being the parent material which is volcanic sedimentary rock, a type of shale or lutita in Spanish, which has a high degree of fragmentation allowing the roots to penetrate the rock fractures. The topsoil is predominantly silt of volcanic origin that, in the case of the Cabernet Franc block specifically, is rich in minerals like iron as well as organic matter, with about 1.5m of topsoil before the volcanic shale bedrock. In terms of the work in the vineyard, the vineyard is farmed organically and drip irrigation is installed, and they will perform shoot thinning and positioning in the vineyard, but no green harvesting is necessary in the Cabernet Franc block in particular, which achieves a natural vine balance.
In terms of winemaking, the fruit is hand-harvested and hand-sorted, destemmed but not crushed, and then they will add back 30% of stems layered in with the whole berries. The fermentation is in a small stainless steel fermenters, with indigenous yeast and temperature control, with the fermentation temperature on the cooler side for reds, 18 to 22C. They will do some pigeage during the active fermentation until the wine has fermented dry, and then the wine undergoes an extended post-fermentation maceration untouched for about 3 months. Following this extended maceration, the free run wine is aged in a combination of amphora and older barrels for about 18 months. After bottling, the wine is aged in bottle for about 1 year prior to release. The total production for the 2021 vintage was around 2600 bottles.
Key wine wine facts below:
Producer: Viña La Rosa
Appellation: Cachapoal Valley
Sub-region: Peumo
Vineyard: Cornellana
Soils: 1.5m of volcanic silt, over a volcanic sedimentary bedrock
Alcohol: 13.5%
