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"Pascal Marty is the person who the Cousiño family entrusted to lead the winemaking team and develop the biggest project undertaken by the sixth generation: the creation of Lota, an icon wine produced to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Vineyard.

“LOTA” project started in 2003, when the Cousiño family decided to create a world class wine for the 150th anniversary. Lota is a wine that combines tradition, the history of the family and the distinctive elegance of the Cousiño-Macul wines. Lota 2010 was selected Chile’s best Red Blend by the prestigious Chilean journalist, Patricio Tapia.

This wine comes from the oldest Cabernet (1932) and best Merlot of Cousiño Macul vineyards. They are the result of a special selection of our own best vines, keeping the same unique DNA material brought from France in the 1860s by Don Luis Cousiño, before the plague phylloxera attacked European vineyards. These vineyards are planted in Macul Estate at the foot of the Andes, 600 m above sea level on a loamy soil with some clay and very strong presence of rocks. They are fully adapted to these conditions without the need of much management, only traditional flooding irrigation and some pruning. With a natural yield of around 4 tons per hectare we obtain a very high quality and concentrated fruit which allows us to start the winemaking process with very high expectations every year. Bunches were selected and handpicked in 10 kg boxes. Once in the cellar, a manual bunch and single grape selection took place. After 7 days of cold maceration at 7°C (45°F), the alcoholic fermentation started, lasting 9 to 12 days at an average temperature of 25°C (77°F) for Merlot, and 27°C (81°F) for Cabernet Sauvignon. Pump overs were done only by gravity 3 to 4 times a day during the alcoholic fermentation. The post fermentative maceration took from 12 to 18 days. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were transferred separately to barrels, where they stood for several months completing the malolactic fermentation while the technical team evaluated them, as only the exceptional ones became part of the Lota blend. The mixture aged for 15-18 months in new French oak barrels. After this period of time it is bottled directly and continued evolving for at least 3 more years." -Winery