For winemaker Fernando Abarca, stirring freshly harvested grapes is “how you get to know each different varietal.”
warm-climate zinfandel, petite sirah, malbec and Barbera among the 16 varietals selected. “Each has a unique character,” Abarca says. El Dorado County has many microclimates and is known for being able to support a wide range of grapes. Each vineyard’s environmental factors such as soil, topography and climate combine to create terroir, or that site’s individual flavor profile imparted to the grapes. At Miraflores, the mature vines and nutrient-rich soils reflect the distinctive terroir there, and you “can see the results in the wine,” Abarca says. All 45 acres of vineyard are pruned and trained the same way. These decisions contribute to the ultimate taste of the grapes, picked at peak ripeness. At Miraflores, that’s 27 Brix for its estate zinfandel, for example. Brix
measures sugar content (ripeness), and the higher the number, the more sugar and higher potential alcohol content. Twenty-seven is a big number in the wine world, but “higher Brix makes more fruit- forward wines. What we like to show is the character of the grapes,” Abarca says. The choice of higher Brix is also a result of the elevation, which delays the growing season and ripening, pushing harvest into October. Into the barrel Most varietals of the freshly harvested grapes are put into stainless steel tanks for seven to 10 days, where they begin to ferment. “I really enjoy fermentation. Doing punch down, pulling the stems is my favorite part in winemaking,” Abarca says, referring to stirring the freshly harvested grapes and removing stems.
“It’s how you get to know each different varietal—how they’re reacting, changing: the colors, the flavors, the aromas.” Next the juice is pressed from the grape hulls, using a soft touch that results in fruity, less bitter wines, a signature taste at the winery. Then the juice is aged in neutral oak barrels, which imparts little oak flavor and which Abarca says allows the grape flavors to shine. “We don’t really like oaky wines because I think it hides the real aromas and flavors of the wine,” he says. The wine, depending on varietal, ages for more than a year in the barrels. Long barrel aging “cuts the tannins and smooths the wine,” Abarca says. “It develops the flavors they need through aging.” Pour a glass Right when a bottle is opened, Abarca says he wants “to smell the true smell of
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Summer 2024
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