2016 Colome Torrontes

Higher plantings than the grapes that go into the Amalaya white – 1,700–2,300 m. Gives more floral character. Picked a little later than the Amalaya too. Cooler, long ferment at 12 ºC. Yeast gives more floral and fruit and more glycerol for fatness. Two months in tank with lees and stirring. No malo and no oak. 10% picked early and greener for freshness, rest later for floral. French winemaker Thibaut Delmotte had no idea how to do Torrontés and he looked to Alsace for style. Bentonite during ferment rather than pre-bottling apparently takes away less weight and fixes the glycerol. Nice with Peruvian food – raw fish and spice, corn and potatoes, especially with ceviche – sushi, Thai. Slightly acidified. 8,000 bottles. pH 3.4, TA 7 g/l. Notable floral purity but not OTT. White blossom. But then a lovely fresh almost sour character, bone dry and salty/sour on the finish. Soils are salty. High pH and a lot of potassium. Impressive texture which counteracts the grape's potential bitterness rather than relying on residual sugar. Mineral and with a slight grip. Rich in the mouth and great acidity. Long too. Mouth-wateringly delicious. GV (JH)

The 2016 Torrontés is sourced from 50-year-old parral vineyards that yielded 10,000 kilos per hectare from vines planted at 1,700 and 2,300 meters altitude. Some 10% of the grapes were harvested early to provide freshness. It fermented slowly with neutral bayanus yeasts for some 35 days and lots of fine lees and was bottled without malolactic in the month of June. This is perfumed and lightly floral with the Torrontés notes making an appearance in the palate, which fills the mid palate and leaves that sensation of Moscatel pulp. This has the intensity of older vines and slightly longer fermentation and combines power with great freshness. The acidity seems to compensate the faint bitterness inherent to the grape. In general, they are harvesting the white grapes earlier than before, a general tendency they also started to apply to the reds in search of more freshness. This is the best young Torrontés I've had from Colomé. Kudos to winemaker Thibaud Delmotte and his team! 144,000 bottles produced.