Emiliana is a winery we have introduced for many years, winemaker Alvaro Espinoza I believe everyone is starting to get familiar with it, in addition to being a pioneer of Chilean biodynamic law, but also making Carmenere one of the leading figures in Chile's national Portuguese! And Emiliana was built by him – she has worked at Château Margaux, Moët & Chandon, and later worked with Bordeaux’s divine wine consultant Jacques Boissenot! They are also Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2010 Chilean Storm Characters (only four in all)! Emiliana was his first partner after setting up his own consulting firm Geo Wines
釀酒師 Alvaro Espinoza
Emiliana was founded in 1986 and started to take off in the late 1990s. Owners Rafael and José Guilisasti were aware of global health and environmental protection trends early on, so they joined Álvaro to gradually create South America’s first 100% biodynamic + organic Emiliana – To date, Emiliana has more than 1000 hectares of organic vineyards. The Adobe series produced is the number one selling organic wine in Chile, with a market share of 59.9%! Incidentally, Emiliana is now owned by Concha y Toro, Concha y Toro, this Chilean No. 1 factory in addition to amazing sales, its three top wineries Almaviva, Don Melchor, Cono Sur are one of the famous Chilean Eighteen Rohans! Emiliana's flagship wine Ge has also been rated 98 points by James Suckling for many years, 2018 vintage was selected by JS as 2021 Chile 100 No
With stable quality and pioneering organic philosophy, the winery has received global recognition: has been awarded organic certification in the EU, the United States, China, Japan and other countries, as well as Demeter biodynamic, fair trade, vegan and other authoritative certifications;
Region
The winery owns approximately 1,256 hectares of vineyards spanning six of Chile's core wine regions, encompassing diverse terroirs from cool coastal areas to warm inland regions, providing a rich flavor base for its various wines:
- Los Robles Estate in the Colchagua Valley is the birthplace of the winery's biodynamic farming methods. Its granite soils impart a robust structure to the wines, making it the core region for its flagship wines;
- Los Morros Estate in the Maipo Valley, with its predominantly alluvial soils, is an important growing region for classic Bordeaux red varieties, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon;
- The Maule Valley, a traditional old-vine region, employs arid cultivation methods, resulting in highly concentrated fruit that imparts a full-bodied fruit flavor and robust texture to the wines;
- The Casablanca Valley and Biobío Valley, along with other cool coastal regions, primarily produce white and sparkling wines, complementing the winery's product range.
The grapes for this wine are all sourced from our own organic vineyards in the Casablanca Valley, at an altitude of approximately 370 meters. The vineyards face east and west and are located in one of Chile's most representative cool-cold white wine producing regions.
The Casablanca Valley, bordering the Pacific Ocean, is deeply influenced by the Humboldt Current: mornings are often shrouded in dense fog, while cool sea breezes blow continuously in the afternoons. The overall climate during the growing season is mild and humid, with significant diurnal temperature variations, greatly extending the grapes' ripening period. During this slow ripening process, Chardonnay accumulates full-bodied white stone fruit and tropical aromas while retaining a clear and sharp natural acidity, preventing the fruit flavors from becoming too intense and losing their crispness.
The vineyard's soils are primarily clay loam and gravelly alluvial soils, with excellent drainage and no natural aquifer. Precision drip irrigation controls the water supply, encouraging the vine roots to grow deep and seek nutrients, giving the wine a solid chalky mineral character and structure. The vineyard adheres to organic and biodynamic management standards throughout the entire process, completely avoiding the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. It maintains the health of the vineyard through biodiversity building, ensuring that the grapes purely express the characteristics of the terroir.
Winemaking
Novas, meaning "supernova," symbolizes their patience and research in respecting and integrating with nature, much like a supernova—young, innovative, and shining brightly. The Novas series uses organic grapes in its Gran Reserva wines, each from a single appellation, faithfully expressing the terroir.
To cater to the varietal characteristics of Chardonnay, this wine employs graded fermentation and gradient aging to balance the freshness of the fruit aromas with the complexity of the oak:
1. **Harvesting and Gentle Pressing:** Mechanical harvesting is conducted during cool nights. After the grapes arrive at the vineyard at low temperatures, they are gently pressed using a pneumatic press, extracting juice at different stages for separate vinification to preserve flavor layers.
2. **Low-Temperature Alcoholic Fermentation:** After static clarification, the grape juice is fermented separately in stainless steel tanks, large French oak barrels, and small French oak barrels at a strictly controlled temperature of 12–14°C to maximize the retention of the grapes' fresh fruit aromas and delicate texture.
3. **Leech Aging and Bâtonnage:** After fermentation, the wine continues to age on fine lees, with regular batonnage to enhance its roundness and flavor complexity.
4. **Graded Oak Aging**: A total of 11 months of aging, with 59% matured in French small oak barrels (12% new oak, 10% second-hand oak, 37% third-hand oak or later), 13% in French large oak barrels (Foudre), and 28% in stainless steel tanks. This gradient of new and old oak barrels infuses the wine with delicate aromas of roasted nuts, cream, and vanilla, while preventing the oak flavors from overpowering the fruit aromas, and preserving the wine's crisp acidity.
5. **Lightly Processed Bottling**: Only light clarification and cold stabilization are performed before bottling, avoiding excessive filtration to retain as much of the wine's original flavor and texture as possible.
