Epitome Vineyard
… Wake up to the Andes, sip wine among the vines, and let Uco Valley redefine your idea of paradise.
Epitome’s vineyards are located in the Prima Zona, the premier wine-growing region of the Uco Valley (Valle de Uco). The vineyard is oriented latitude 33°36’7.43″S and longitude 69°8’9.34″W and has an elevation of 3,300 feet asl. The soil is alluvial. The vines are planted close together (1m) and the rows are planted 2.2m apart. Epitome employs the Vertical Stem Positioning (VSP) system with two production arms and is green harvested to 8 – 10 clusters per vine. A computerized drip irrigation system has been installed and is used until late December or early January when the vines are put into stress so they will produce quality seeds (grapes). The business model used is that a green harvest and a hand harvest are done only on the grapes used to produce EPITOME wines. The remaining grapes are machine harvested and sold to local wineries ,the proceeds are used to finance the making and aging of EPITOME wines.
The valley is semi-arid however, global warming has seen increased rainfall over the last couple of years. Increased spraying of copper, sulfur, and magnesium has controlled the botrytis. Also, the threat of hail has increased over the years. We have had to work harder in the vineyard but when harvest come along it all seems worthwhile.
The vineyard was planted to owner Dennis Grimm’s specifications in 2008 and our first harvest in 2012 was Malbec.
Currently, we have 11 acres planted:
Malbec: 4acres
Cabernet Franc: 3.0 acres
Merlot: 3.0 acres
Syrah: 1 acres
About
Epitome Wines
2015 Epitome Malbec
Variety:
100% Malbec from the UCO Valley
Harvest
- An intense purple color with hints of Violet.
- A fresh aroma of sweet but not overly ripe fruits, blackberry, raspberry, and plum with a hint of oak aroma treats the nose.
- An evolving mouthfeel, full of blackberry, raspberry, and plum invades the palate. The complexity of the wine is preserved with evolving tannins that have developed due to the cool evenings in the valley.
- The wine is balanced with a medium + finish.
- Good with all things red: Meat, Sauces, Spices.
- Production is 6.000 bottles with natural cork enclosures.
- Potential aging of 6 to 7 years.
- The decision of when to harvest is not decided scientifically by testing the brix levels but by actually tasting the grapes. When the fruit flavour is tasted in the seeds it is time to harvest. Our Wine maker is one of the best-known wine makers in the Valley and his palate determines when to harvest.
- The grapes were harvested by hand on April 27th, 2015.
- The yield is controlled to only produce 4 Ton/acre. Quality grapes will usually produce quality wines. Grapes produced for quantity will not. Epitome puts quality first.
Cultivation
- Medium deep alluvial soil, with fine clay components, is ideal for the signature grape of Argentina. Malbec, a traditional French grape used in Bordeaux blends has found its true home in the soils of the Uco Valley.
- The Vineyard is situated 2,952 feet above sea level.
- Vines are 8 years old, well balanced with Vertical shoot positioning, bilateral cordon with spurs, and automated drip irrigation.
- An aggressive green harvest is completed in January allowing the remaining clusters to receive the full attention of the vines.
- Disciplined canopy management was used, to avoid overexposure and sunburn of the clusters.
Winemaking
- In the winery, the whole berries are de-stemmed chilled, and allowed to soak for three days at 8 – 10°C. The grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks using native yeasts for fourteen days. The fermentation temperature is 24 – 28°C.
- The fermented juice (must) spends the next 28 days in a post-fermentation stage where maceration occurs at a controlled temperature of 20°C. Spontaneous malolatic fermentation is encouraged and gives Epitome Malbec 2015 its smoothness and elegance.
- The wine is stored for over ten months in stainless steel tanks with oak staves so the temperature can be controlled. No finning is done, as we prefer to use open filtration allowing the grapes to fully express what they have to offer in the wine.
- After spending over ten months in the tank we bottle the wine and let it sit for a minimum of six months before releasing it to the market.
- Epitome Malbec 2015 was bottled on March 9th, 2016
2016 Because Rosé
Variety:
100% Merlot from the Uco Valley.
Tasting Characteristics
- A beautiful salmon pink colour.
- The wonderful bouquet is a reminiscence of fresh fruit and has excellent Merlot topicity.
- Because Rosé is complex with an exciting mouth-feel and shows an abundance of fruit flavors, thanks to the “sur lie” aging.
- Little acidity gives freshness and a pleasant dryness (no residual sugar) to this elegant Rosé.
- Recommended for summer consumption with light food or as an aperitif.
- ABV is 13.8%
- Production 6.000 bottles with screw cap closure to assure the freshness for longer periods.
Harvest
- To achieve our unique style of Rosé, we carefully decided the optimal timing for harvest by taste. When the fruit flavours express themselves in the actual seed they are ready to harvest.
- The ripe berries are handpicked, placed in small boxes to avoid the oxidation of the juice and rushed to the winery for hand selection. Only the best berries are used for Because.
- The Merlot grapes for Because Rosé 2016 were harvested on April 1, 2016.
Cultivation
- Medium-deep alluvial soil, with fine clay components, has resulted in the perfect soil for the Merlot varietal expression.
- Eight-year-old well vines with, vertical shoot positioning, spurs, and automated drip irrigation.
- An aggressive green harvest was completed in January.
- Disciplined canopy management was used, to avoid overexposure and sunburn of the clusters, providing its fresh fruit character.
Winemaking
- In the winery, the whole berries are de-stemmed chilled and allowed to undergo a cold, short maceration of two hours./li>
- The juice is left on its own to settle on the lees. Only gravity is used with no intervention on our part.
- Next the must is racked in a stainless steel tank and allowed to start the fermentation process with selected yeast at 18ºC for 15 days.
- The must is allowed to rest on lees for 3 months, adding body and mouth-feel to the Rosé.
- Unique to this vintage was our immediate racking before bottling and we bottled without filtration.
- We did this to avoid early oxidation, thereby improving the life of the wine. The immediate racking leaves a very small opalescence, that provides, the wine with a reductive medium. This reductive medium prevents early oxidation and improves the wine’s vin de garde (wine’s ability to keep its original fruit character for a longer period). The lack of filtration assures that the grapes will be allowed to express their full potential in the wine.
- Because Rosé 2016 was bottled on August 30th, 2016.
Epitome Vineyard
Tasting Characteristics
