Vintage 2018 – Cabernet sauvignon 85%, Syrah 10%, Carménère 5%
Cromas Gran Reserva is the same wine as the former Grande Réserve. The name Los Vascos Cromas is inspired by the colours of nature to reflect how this wine express the message of the soil it is coming from and the know-how of the Los Vascos team.
TASTING NOTES (AT BOTTLING):
Intense ruby-red colour with glints of garnet.
Initially the nose presents scents of fresh strawberry, red cherry, gooseberry and blue flowers. Then subtle notes of bay, tobacco, caramel and graphite emerge. On the palate, the wine is generous with soft yet lively tannins, leading into a long, lingering finish.
2018 offered optimal weather conditions. The season started with average rainfall in winter and spring, which provided favorable conditions for bud break and fruit onset. Minimum temperatures were mild throughout the season, and luckily no frost.
The main characteristic of the summer was that temperatures remained slightly below average, which allowed grapes to ripen slowly. This factor, combined with a great after season with no precipitations, was determining for the harvest timing that started rather late once the grapes had developed fully and reached optimal phenolic ripeness.
The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes for the Cromas Gran Reserva have been selected from plots at the foothills of Santa Lucia, where they benefit from an optimal exposure and light intensity. With the contrast between daytime and nighttime temperature being particularly extreme in these vineyards, the conditions are particularly favorable to a slow maturation of our emblematic varietal, with the period between veraison and maturation going up to 75 days. Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested late in the season, when the leaves have already changed color and the estate is already dressed in its vibrant autumn shades.
The wine has spent 12 months ageing in oak of which 50% were new oak barrels.
