Cousiño-Macul Lota

Lota bottle image

Wine Description

This wine comes from the oldest Cabernet (1932) and best Merlot of Cousiño Macul vineyards. They are the result of a special selection of our own best vines, keeping the same unique DNA material brought from France in the 1860s by Don Luis Cousiño, before the plague phylloxera attacked European vineyards.  These vineyards are planted in Macul Estate at the foot of the Andes, 600 m above sea level on a loamy soil with some clay and very strong presence of rocks. They are fully adapted to these conditions without the need of much management, only traditional flooding irrigation and some pruning. With a natural yield of around 4 tons per hectare we obtain a very high quality and concentrated fruit which allows us to start the winemaking process with very high expectations every year.

Cousiño-Macul Winery
Cousiño-Macul Vineyard
The gate to Cousiño-Macul winery
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Acclaim
“Since its first release in 2004, this superb Bordeaux blend has established itself as one of Chile's finest reds. Now made with the help of consultant Felipe de Solminihac, it's a surprisingly refined, elegant cuvée of new-oak aged Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot, all from the Macul suburb of Santiago. Grassy, minty and polished, with more tannin than you think, plenty of acidity and focus and understated complexity.”
— Tim Atkin, MW, Mar 2022
Best Bordeaux Blends:

COUSIÑO-MACUL Lota 2018
— Tim Atkin, MW, Mar 2022
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Vineyard & Production Info
Vineyard name
Macul and Buin Vineyards
Vineyard size
Various acres
Soil composition
Calcareous soil, sand and rocky subsoils
Elevation:
1,320 - 1,890 feet
Vines/acre:
931 - 2,024
Exposure:
North and South
Year vineyard planted:
Various
Harvest time:
Late March through the first week in May
First vintage of this wine:
2004
Bottles produced of this wine:
4,800
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Winemaking & Aging
Maceration length:
12-18
Varietal composition:
78% Cabernet Sauvignon and 22% Merlot
Fermentation container:
Stainless steel tanks
Length of alcoholic fermentation:
9-12 days
Fermentation temperature:
76 °F
Malolactic fermentation:
Yes
Type of aging container:
Barrique
Size of aging container:
225 L
Type of oak:
French oak - Taransaud and Sylvain
Length of aging before bottling:
15 months
Age of Aging Container:
85% new
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Analytical Data
pH level:
3.41
Acidity:
5.75 g/L
Alcohol:
14.1 %
Residual sugar:
3.33 g/L