HARVEST REPORT 2021
If we had to define Cono Sur’s 2021 haverst in one word, it would definitely be “challenging”.
I would like to begin by congratulating the entire agricultural and oenological team and all those who supported to carry out this harvest in an excellent way. A commitment and professionalism that makes us proud and that allowed us to carry out a successful and high-quality harvest in our 2021 wines.
When we moved to the pre-harvest moment, we faced a great challenge, starting with the global and national condition as a result of the pandemic, a situation that evidently marked this 2021 harvest. The established restrictions, the uncertainty, the nervousness of the team and the strict protocols that we had to generate to be able to carry out the operation, marked the first great challenge of this harvest. The commitment of the team was essential to perform a harvest of high demand, concentration, dedication, professional excellence and personal health care, among all and for all.
To the stress of the pandemic, we added an event of rains at the end of January – beginning of February in the central zone, very unusual and which gave us an important alert for the health of our grapes. This rain increased the pressure and nervousness to face this harvest. Important decisions had to be made, identifying and isolating the potential problems that we could have and advancing harvests in some lots to ensure the quality of our grapes.
Cool mind, quick and concrete actions and a prepared team that followed health protocols, were key to face a highly demanding, unique harvest, one of the most challenging harvests that we have ever encountered.
Today, on June 2021, we can say with pride and happiness that we have had a great 2021 harvest, with excellent wines in both white and red.
As mentioned above, we can classify 2021 as a rather cold year in general, especially in February.
If we start chronologically, we had a cool 2020 spring too, especially in the cold-weather coastal valleys. Some local frosts in the Casablanca valley and Colchagua coast, specifically in our Peralillo estate, caused that some productive yields were compromised. The rest of the valleys had a cool spring but within normality and without major events of rain or frost, which allowed a good flowering and set of the grapes. Growth was also normal and balanced, all within expectations. A good spring except in the areas mentioned previously, where the frosts affected the production.
The summer started normal, but not very hot until the event of the rains at the end of January where the weather radically changed to a cold summer. The excellent news is that there was no major event of subsequent rains and the grapes were able to ripen calmly and slowly, in a very good way and with good health. The year began to show the quality potential that we see in wines today.
In general, we can say that at a national level, the production remained as expected with good general yields, depending on the zones, since there were specific places and varieties where the yield were lower as a result of the climatic conditions.
Finally, this cold summer allowed a slow maturity, with a rich acidity in the grapes, a very good balance in the degree of sugar and therefore of alcohol in the wines. This resulted in very balanced, juicy, fresh and delicate wines.
Regarding white varieties, we obtained expressive, fresh and vibrant wines of great aromatic intensity and excellent acidity. They are delicate and balanced wines that are already being marketed. A great year for whites.
Regarding red varieties, the situation was similar, with slow maturity, which allowed the grapes to not be snatched at maturity while the sugar content rose slowly. The tannins and anthocyanins of the grapes also evolved according to maturity. We obtained a very intense, fruity wine, without overripeness, with intense and delicate aromas, with rich acidity and soft tannins. It is also a great year for red wines.
In summary, although the 2021 vintage was challenging and demanding, it gave us great wines, of very good quality and I think it will be a year that we will not forget due to the condition of the harvest, but mainly because of the excellent quality of its wines.