Carmelo Winery

The original vines of the winery that are between 35 and 40 years old and still producing. 

 

On this tour, we visited a winery near Carmelo, Uruguay. This specific winery started making wine in 1913. The location of the winery is prime since there are a lot of rivers around making the soil fertile for growing grapes. Some of the vines at this vineyard are nearly 40 years old and were the original ones planted. 

Grapes that will be harvested in late February

In order to make the best wines, oak barrels are used to ferment the wine and also the cork is from the Canoka tree. The best grapes come from vines that are between 8 and 35 years old. Before 8 years old, the vines can´t produce enough grapes to harvest and after 35 years old, the grapes don´t have a good enough quality. At the end of rose of vines, roses are planted since they are weaker than the vine and when insects and disease attack the roses the workers know when to start control of insect issues in the vines. 

Rose bushes are put at the end of the vines for insect monitoring 

 

Harvest time for the grapes is in February and it is done by manual labor. There´s 40 people in the field and 20 in the office. After the grapes are picked they get pressed and they go into silo type buildings for alcohol fermentation. For a red wine the skin is left on for 24-48 hours after the grapes have been pressed in the silo and then the skin is removed and the rest of the grape is continued to ferment in the silo for 12-14 days and for a white wine the skin is removed and the grape ferments for 8-12 days. The leftover pit and skin that aren´t used are mixed together and given to cattle. 

Cement storage units.

The barrels used to hold the wine after fermentation hold 221 liters and can only be used for 6-7 years since the acid from the wine creates a film inside the barrel. The barrel cannot have any oxygen or else the wine will go bad so they have to be filled full. In order for the winery to get ready for a new wine to get a new barrel ready they must burn sulfur inside it. A Malbec or Merlot wine takes 8'-12 months to ferment, a Tannat takes 1-2 years and a white wine takes around 6 months.

An interesting fact we learned is that it is actually a myth that wine gets better with age, a good wine will only keep for around 5 years.

At the entrance of the winery, a supersized wine bottle greets visitors.

Students viewing the winery with host. For many it was our first visit to a winery so we had lots and lots of questions. 

 

 Submitted by Chelsea Sweeter.