Las Higueras Vineyard
Maule Valley
Cabernet Franc
2017 – Lot 92

Wonderful herbal aromas and a leafy, spicy personality, very fine tannins and good freshness. Elegance with complexity.

5264 bottles filled in Dic 2018

15 barrels Cab Franc

Total Acid 5,6 g/l
pH: 3,49
Residual Sugar: 2,09 g/l
Alcohol: 12,8 % vol

The Vineyard:
– 116 yrs old
– 8 hectares ttl
– old-bush head vines (see story)
– Alluvial soils, round stones at 40-50 cm
– 3^rd alluvial terrace of above the Achibueno River
– 1,2 kg per plant / < 3,5oo kgs per hectare

Elaboration:

– Naturally fermented with native yeasts
– Conical oval shaped lagar fermenters (open) 1,5oo kgs-3,ooo
– Caps punched down by hand
– Lignified stems re-introduced after crush aprox 20%
– No temp control (besides opening closing windows)
– Pinch of sulfites after malolactic that finishes before winter begins (normally)

Elevage:

Aged in barrels over two winters— barrels for this wine come from Almaviva after two uses: Nadalie (Allier – Noisette toast), Sylvain, Berger & Fils, , Seguin Moreau.

The Vintage – 2017

2017 was a warm vintage but the proximity to the river (narrow lake/loch for much of the year) helped to keep things cool at this site.
works on the farm with canopy management began to pay off in 2017 with lower alcohol and freshness.

¿How many lots of this wine?

Just one each year.

Previous Las Higueras Vineyard bottlings:

Las Higueras Vineyard Lot 82 – 2016
Las Higueras Vineyard Lot 72 – 2015
Las Higueras Vineyard Lot 62 – 2014
Las Higueras Vineyard Lot 52 – 2013

This is the 92^nd Lot of wine we have bottled since 2001.

T a s t i n g N o t e s

House note:

Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2017 – Lot # 92

Rare bush-head vine Cabernet Franc, shows classic notes of graphite, cut grass (tomato leaf) backed up by fine, well integrated tannins and proper supporting acidity. Lighter colour with surprising density and intensity. Atypical new-world Cab Franc: balanced and expressive with 12,8 % alc. (It´s the difference proper farming makes!)

Ageability

2017 vintage will age 10 years gracefully, but the wine is approachable today
2013 is drinking well and with a few more years before it will peak it could be cellared for 3-4 years more!

Best drinking 2020-2028

C r i t i c s´ N o t e s

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 247
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2017 – Lot # 92 – 94 Pts
The 2017 Las Higueras Vineyard is a Cabernet Franc from Maule and, therefore, is quite different in style from the one from Pirque in Maipo, with less herbal and mint notes and more of a fruit-forward, peachy personality, perhaps aided by the warmer year. In any case, they changed the farming of this vineyard as they took over, starting with the pruning and training of the vines, making them look more like the bush vines and letting them grow above the first wire, which lent more shade to the fruit and seemed to result in a slower maturation of the grapes and less alcohol (this is only 12.9%!). They also sold some fruit from this vineyard to other wineries, so in the future, we might get to taste different interpretations of this very same vineyard. They also started working with cover crops and removed the synthetic fertilizers and other stuff, even abandoning irrigation and going back to cultivating it the old way with the aid of vignerons from Sauzal and Puico. They say they really noticed a big difference now that have been working it for three years. The plants are now 116 years old. With time in the glass the wine develops a very specific note of merken, a Chilean paprika-like blend of spices. 5,264 bottles were filled in January 2019.

Vinous March 2020 Joaquin Hidalgo
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2017 – Lot # 92 – 91 Pts
Cabernet Franc from Las Higueras, Maule, aged for two years. The intense nose contains blackberry and maraschino cherries with bell pepper, herbs and a hint of tobacco. A rough texture combines with firm tannins that get very juicy when woken up by the moderate acidity and a long finish of woody notes. A serious wine.

More About Las Higueras
We have made Las Higueras Cab Franc since 2013. It was sourced from a corner of a larger 8 hectare vineyard of 115 year old Cab Franc in Maule. In this corner hectare most all of the cables and posts of the rows had mostly fallen down (the owners had used these bits and bobs to help better string up the rest of the vineyard) and, as we saw it, this little hectare had returned to its natural state in nature ie old bush head vines! Old bush-head vine Cab Franc.

Note : Two years ago we entered into an agreement to rent the whole enchilada in a long-term deal that has us managing all 8 hectares. We have brought in our dry-farming vignerons from Sauzal and Puico to help and have begun cultivating the vineyard the old way. The vineyard has responded well to what was a formidable pruning to recover and rebuild the old vines, but already we are seeing a re-birth.

What is to come?
The 2017 Vintage (a warm year) was harvested at 12,6 & 12,8 alc. We are looking forward to future years now we manage the whole vineyard!

Notes on Previous Vintages from this parcel

T a s t i n g N o t e s

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 239
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2014 – Lot # 82 – 93 Pts
The 2016 Las Higueras Vineyard bottling (Lot #82) is from a place close to Linares that they now manage entirely (and sell some fruit to others) and has some herbal aromas and a leafy, spicy personality. It has very fine tannins and good freshness. It’s elegant, with some complexity. Some 4,000 bottles produced from 13 barrels. It was bottled in December 2017.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 239
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2014 – Lot # 72 – 92 Pts
As with many of their bottlings, I was able to compare the 2015 Las Higueras Vineyard with the 2016, and this was darker, more concentrated and powerful. It feels quite ripe and not that varietal. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. 3,764 bottles were filled in December 2016.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 23o
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2014 – Lot # 62 – 93+ Pts
I also got to taste the 2014 Las Higueras Vineyard bottling (marked lot #62). This vineyard in the Caliboro zone of Maule has provided a very balanced and expressive Cabernet Franc, with complexity and nuances, fine tannins and good freshness. 3,642 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2015, having spent two winters in barrel.

James Suckling .com May 25^th 2017
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2014 – Lot # 62 – 93 Pts
This is a solid cabernet franc with beautiful density and intense. Wonderfully structured with firm and velvety tannins and a flavorful finish. Needs a year or two of bottle age.

Descorchados 2017 Patricio Tapia
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2014 – Lot # 62 – 91 Pts
Voluptuoso y con agarre, de los que piden esos gordos cortes de carne jugosa. También para la guarda.

Tim Atkin MW
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2013 – Lot # 52 – 93 Pts
New to Derek Mossman’s extensive range of goodies in 2013, this is a rather unusual bush vine Cabernet Franc, showing classic notes of graphite and cut grass backed up by sinewy, well integrated tannins and supporting acidity. An impressive début. Drink 2018-24

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate # 23o
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2013 – Lot # 52 – 92 Pts
Let’s see if I can find names that can be reused from vintage to vintage, using the vineyard designation, like the case of their Cabernet Franc 2013 Las Higueras Vineyard from Maule. This was sourced from dry-farmed, head-pruned old Cabernet Franc vines planted on a terrace of alluvial soils near the Perquilauquen river. It matured in barrel over two winters. The Pirque Cabernet Franc is their first wine to sell out year after year, so they had to find more Cabernet Franc, and they finally got this, from two vineyards. It shows the mixture of varietal and place characteristics, plus the freshness from the year. It has more developed, earthier aromas. 3,371 bottles were filled in November 2014 from 11 barrels. This is lot #52.

Vinous – Antonio Galloni, Feb 2017
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2013 – Lot # 52 – 91 Pts
Opaque ruby. Ripe cherry and dark berries on the deeply perfumed nose, complicated by hints of licorice, dark chocolate and pipe tobacco that build in the glass. Plush, expansive cherry and black currant flavors show very good depth and a refreshing touch of mint that emerges with air. Finishes smooth, sweet and impressively long, delivering solid thrust, a hint of bitter chocolate and velvety, even tannins that come in late. Drink 2018 – 2023 Josh Raynolds

Descorchados 2017 Patricio Tapia
Las Higueras Vineyard Maule Valley Cabernet Franc 2013 – Lot # 52 – 91 Pts
Especias y algunos toques torrados en la nariz. La boca es amable, tensa, con una rica acidez que lo barre todo.

Pictures of this vineyard taken over the past few years:

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/gwcolashiguerasvineyard/

#gwcolashiguerasvineyard

Cab Franc - trained old bush-head no filter ...

Jan 19

Las Higueras VineyardMaule ValleyCabernet Franc2017 – Lot 92

5264 bottles filled in Dic 2018

T a s t i n g N o t e s

Notes on Previous Vintages from this parcel

T a s t i n g N o t e s

#gwcolashiguerasvineyard

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Las Higueras Vineyard
Maule Valley
Cabernet Franc
2017 – Lot 92