Odfjell Orzada Carignan 2007

The Estate

Founded by Norwegian shipowner, Dan Odfjell, in a corner of the Maipo Valley, Chile’s premium red wine producing area in a microclimate created by soothing, coastal breezes. Odfjell are committed to progressive vineyard management, using no artificial pesticides or fertilisers and are dedicated to raising the image of viticulture in Chile. Low yields are an essential part of their philosophy. Dan’s son Laurence has designed a unique gravity flow system in the winery, enabling extremely gentle handling of the grapes and wine. Run by an international team of winemakers: Californian vintner Paul Hobbs, resident winemaker Arnaud Hereu from Bordeaux and Marcela Garate from Chile. A passion for wine and an uncompromising search for excellence unite the team. We have witnessed this excellence first hand on a recent visit and believe Odfjell wines to be amongst the most innovative and excitingly different to come from Chile. ‘One dimensional’ they are not: they will delight the discerning who want to move away from the stereotypical Chilean styles prevalent on the Irish market.

Climate and Soil

Maule Valley (35º 44’43’’ S) 195m above sea level. Mild climate with a dry season of five to six months duration. The annual rainfall is 700mm concentrated between October and April. Sandy clay loam soil with presence of granite along the profile. Maule Valley (36º 08’41’’ S) 175m above sea level. The soil is deep red clay loam, with high temperatures cooled down by fresh breezes from the Pacific Ocean.

Winemaking

The grapes were hand-picked using 400kg bins and were not crushed on reception to the winery; the clusters were only destemmed. The whole berries had five to six days of cold maceration at 14°C prior to fermentation and 15 to 20 days of maceration at 25ºC after fermentation. Selected yeasts were used during the fermentation, which took place in small tanks from 10,000 to 15.000 Lts. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation took place in barrels.