We recently finished replanting with great success a high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in our Romeral estate. Its grapes will be ready to vinify in three years.
The Romeral Estate belongs to the Maipo Valley, one of Chile’s most traditional wine-growing areas, which features a temperate climate with hot, dry summers. Specifically located in the area of Maipo Alto, the Romeral vineyards grow on the second geological terrace of the Maipo River. Marcela Galarce, a vine grower with more than 12 years of experience in the estate, is in charge of its viticulture. She, along with two other vine-growers, successfully led the replanting.
The property comprises 50 hectares of vineyards, established in 2004 and 2005, all planted at high density.
In the afternoons, usually fresh winds blow across the basin of the Maipo River, which allows a cooler thermal sensation and produces great benefits for the health of the vineyards. Romeral consists of two soil types: the Cerro Romeral series, which has a colluvial/alluvial origin and is found in the sectors closest to the hills; and the Maipo series, which corresponds to soils of alluvial origin, located in the flat sectors near the river.
The replanting of the Romeral estate started in 2019. To this effect, we uprooted 7.12 hectares of non-clonal, high-density planted vines (10.101 per hectare) of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Following the uprooting, we conducted labor-intensive soil works and profound soil studies to have a better identification of each sector of the vineyard. As of July 2020, we started structuring the ground and then finished the plantation within a week, on September 30. We chose five different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon vines according to the different soil types in each sector. They will be harvested in three more years when the grapes achieve a high-quality level per bunch. For further information, please contact Osciel Velásquez, ovelasquez@morande.cl
