Four weeks after the end of our 2022 vintage, we had a chat with the winery's winemaking team and they concluded that it will be an excellent year for Renacer wines.
The 2022 vintage stands out for its balance between health, quality and yield per hectare. During the winter the temperatures were low and did not affect the buds of the plants. However, there were some frosts in October that caused concern, especially in the Uco Valley, where temperatures were as low as -4°C, but did not cause any damage. In the Luján de Cuyo area, on the other hand, it was a cold but mild start to spring.
Prior to the start of the vegetative cycle, all varieties were irrigated before the start of the growing season in the same way, which was important to activate the weeding and the buds. Finally, the same was done in a homogeneous and continuous way, although one week early.
Some cooler summer temperatures led to slow ripening, which allowed the grapes to be harvested at the right time, from the third week of February onwards and at the desired ripeness. Initially, some rain in January and February threatened the health of the more sensitive white grapes, but in March and the first half of April the weather was drier than at other times. At the same time, the red grape harvest was uneventful.
This harvest presented a lot of uncertainty at the beginning, due to some weather conditions such as rain and cold, but the rhythm of the harvest began to normalise in the following days. We had a frost on March 30 that greatly affected the department of San Carlos, in the Uco Valley, and some of our associated producers of higher volumes, and we had to reorganise the harvest, giving high priority to the entry of producers in that area, as it caused the plants to finish their cycle abruptly. It was a harvest marked by extreme temperatures, which meant that it lasted only a short time.
"It was a very good quality harvest with excellent colour and good overall acidity. I am convinced that we will have excellent wines ahead of us in 2022" said Fernando Sota, Winemaking Manager.
This year the Cabenerts Franc and Sauvignon were the most interesting varietals for the winemaking team, as the climate during the harvest helped to keep the grapes from losing their ripeness and brought a lot of freshness to the wine.
Approximately 900.000 kg of grapes from different micro-regions of Mendoza and varietals between Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco. Bonarda from Luján de Cuyo for Milamore. Chardonnay also from the Uco Valley and some less conventional varietals for Renacer such as Merlot and Syrah for new projects.
To conclude Fernando Sota told us that this year they allowed themselves to do some trials in order to improve the winemaking process. For example, they made small tanks with micro fermentations in certain varietals and changed some methods. On the Cabernets they did several harvesting points in order to look for different profiles of the final wine. A carbonic maceration of Syrah was elaborated in order to develop aromas of specific jams.
Some new procedures were applied in the winemaking process, such as increasing the yeast nutrition levels compared to other years in order to achieve a better expression of the varietals. We also used more oxygen in the first thirds of the fermentations and then reduced it to achieve more balance. This year 100% of the Malbec was made with indigenous yeasts.
The harvest started on February 25th with the entry of Chardonnay and then Bonarda which is part of Milamore. Then Merlot from Gualtallary from a vineyard at 1320 meters above sea level, sandy soil with very good grape quality. The entry continued with Malbecs from Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco. Harvesting points started simultaneously for both winegrowing areas. All the associated producers delivered grapes in very good ripening condition, and of outstanding health. Harvest at the Renacer estate began on 4 March with Malbec for Punto Final Malbec Rosé and then from 11 March to 6 April with Malbec, followed by Cabernet Franc and then Cabernet Sauvignon.
