Bodegas Ramirez de Ganuza Wine
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I don't think I have visited a property that is so fanatical about the quality of their wines. Their dedication and fastidiousness is incredible. The list of things that they do is mind boggling. Firstly the grapes are hand picked with each plot picked at its optimum ripeness. They were fortunate in that they had 90% of the harvest completed by the time the rains came. The selected grapes arrive at the winery where they are sorted on an amazing table de trie designed by Fernando himself. It is separated into three belts. On the first belt any loose berries and grape juice are discarded, on the second the bunches are inspected and any defective bunches are discarded, on the final belt the selected bunches are cut into two parts, the feet and shoulders. They believe that shoulders contain the best quality grapes and they will eventually make the wine destined to become a Reserva, whereas the feet will be used for the young wine vinified by the carbonic maceration method.
Fermentation using natural yeasts takes place in a combination of stainless steel and wooden tanks, these wooden tanks are replaced after two or three years of use, thus when we visited they looked shiny and brand new, which is quite unusual as most wineries keep theirs for years. The wine is put into new oak barrels for the malolactic fermentation and ageing, in fact they only use new oak for every vintage, thus in an average year one third of the barrels are replaced. 80% of the barrels are French Allier, and 20% American, they are even experimenting with larger 500 ltr barrels to see what difference it will make to the wine. All the barrels are regularly inspected and if any require topping up then a barrel from the same lot is sacrificed.
The innovation doesn't end there. For their top cuvee the 'Tras Nocho' the grapes are pressed in an innovative way. They introduce a large bag through the opening of the tank and fill it with water. This means that the grapes are gently pressed by the weight of the water and the juice runs slowly out through the night hence the name of the wine. Finally in their laboratory they rigorously test samples of the yeast and the corks for the dreaded TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) which is the chemical compound responsible for cork taint. As a result of this diligence they claim that currently only 3 bottles per 1000 have a problem.
I don't think I have visited a property that is so fanatical about the quality of their wines. Their dedication and fastidiousness is incredible. The list of things that they do is mind boggling. Firstly the grapes are hand picked with each plot picked at its optimum ripeness. They were fortunate in that they had 90% of the harvest completed by the time the rains came. The selected grapes arrive at the winery where they are sorted on an amazing table de trie designed by Fernando himself. It is separated into three belts. On the first belt any loose berries and grape juice are discarded, on the second the bunches are inspected and any defective bunches are discarded, on the final belt the selected bunches are cut into two parts, the feet and shoulders. They believe that shoulders contain the best quality grapes and they will eventually make the wine destined to become a Reserva, whereas the feet will be used for the young wine vinified by the carbonic maceration method.
Fermentation using natural yeasts takes place in a combination of stainless steel and wooden tanks, these wooden tanks are replaced after two or three years of use, thus when we visited they looked shiny and brand new, which is quite unusual as most wineries keep theirs for years. The wine is put into new oak barrels for the malolactic fermentation and ageing, in fact they only use new oak for every vintage, thus in an average year one third of the barrels are replaced. 80% of the barrels are French Allier, and 20% American, they are even experimenting with larger 500 ltr barrels to see what difference it will make to the wine. All the barrels are regularly inspected and if any require topping up then a barrel from the same lot is sacrificed.
The innovation doesn't end there. For their top cuvee the 'Tras Nocho' the grapes are pressed in an innovative way. They introduce a large bag through the opening of the tank and fill it with water. This means that the grapes are gently pressed by the weight of the water and the juice runs slowly out through the night hence the name of the wine. Finally in their laboratory they rigorously test samples of the yeast and the corks for the dreaded TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole) which is the chemical compound responsible for cork taint. As a result of this diligence they claim that currently only 3 bottles per 1000 have a problem.
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