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Archive for the ‘Wine’ Category

Argentine Wine Adventures

01 Jul

One fall afternoon we decided to go wine tasting in Mendoza like true Slow Travelers, riding the bus.  From our maps, it deceivingly looked like all that would be required was a quick bus ride followed by a short stroll to reach Alta Vista, the winery producing some of our Argentine favorites.  We made an online reservation and headed out, toddler in tow.

We were running a bit behind, ended up on a local bus stopping every two blocks, and found that a short walk on the map wasn’t so short after all.  To make up time, I carried Siena as J strode ahead to verify whether we were even heading in the right direction as my navigational skills had been a bit off-kilter since jumping continents.  Meanwhile, dusk quickly enveloped us on a back country road in Mendoza’s wine country.

By the time we arrived at the guarded front gates, the only cars in the parking lot belonged to winery employees.  We explained to the guard that we had an appointment, and he then put us on the phone with the tasting room manager who explained that they were closed.  But, I explained, in Spanish, we have an appointment!  Incredulous, he came out to chat with us further and explain that the winery was actually closed.  However, as luck had it, he decided to open the doors to us so we could sample some wine and have a personally-lead tour.

Once we were inside the winery, we had the opportunity to chat with some nice people, watch home videos on our new friends’ cell phones, and sample some interesting wines.  I enjoyed that they had a tasting list, so that those more wine-savvy or adventurous visitors could purchase wines by the glass and taste wines which wouldn’t otherwise be poured.

Already familiar with both their Premium Torrontes, high-end Alto blend, and in love with their mid-tier Atemporal, I was excited to try something new.  Not wanting to take advantage of their kindness, and considering my familiarity with their product line, I limited my tasting to the Terroir Selection Malbec.   This classic Malbec is worth trying, and educational as well as the label shares with you the proportion of grapes from specific vineyards, with a schematic depiction and additional information about the vineyards on the back label.  In the tasting room itself, there are posters further describing the vineyards, their altitudes, and their soil characteristics, in both English and Spanish.

After the personalized winery tour, to our pleasant surprise, we were offered (and gladly accepted) a ride back into downtown Mendoza.  This reminded us, once again, how fortunate we felt to be living in South America.

 
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Posted in Traveling, Wine

 

Artisan Winery in Argentina’s Uco Valley

27 Jun

Bodega La Azul

After many puzzled looks from enologists, sommeliers, and random acquaintances, a friend finally vocalized the question we had been reading on faces since arriving in Latin America earlier that year, “Why are you interested in artisan wines?”

This caught me by surprise as my experience, apparently not the norm in South America, is that wine is often best when produced by a small number of loving hands rather than on an industrial scale.  Some of my favorite artisan wineries, such as Flaherty Wines produce wines with a depth and complexity that showcase artisan wine-making at its best.

Our Argentine friend explained to us that artisan products have often been perceived as inferior in Latin America, more likely to be cheaply made, defective, or of lower quality. Artisan wines were what you bought if you couldn’t afford high-quality wines produced by more sophisticated wineries, definitely not what we were seeking.

However, perceptions are slowly changing.  In both Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, a handful of wineries have been receiving international recognition, which has started to change the perception of “artisan” wines within Latin America.  One winery of note in Argentina is one of J’s all-time favorites:  Bodega La Azul, in Mendoza’s well-esteemed Uco Valley.  We visited this winery on a tour, and the experience was a deciding factor in our decision to spend half of the year in Malbec-soaked Mendoza.

There are many international winemakers leaving their mark on Uco Valley and receiving much critical acclaim.  La Azul is a bit smaller than most, growing and vinifying only Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, and their product line consists of two young wines and two reserve blends.  We first became familiar with La Azul in February, 2010, and were impressed.  At that time, we were drinking the 2004 Reserva, which continued to knock our socks off through the end of the year.  This wine, an interesting, complex Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec blend, was a great value in Mendoza for less than $15/bottle in 2010; and still tempting in the US at $24/bottle.  La Azul also produces interesting un-oaked single varietals for less than $10; their Malbec is worth trying.

Enjoy a glass of wine from an artisan winemaker, and please share your feedback if you have an opportunity to sample any of the wines we’re so excited about.  What are some of your favorite artisan wineries in Argentina, Chile, or Uruguay?

 
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Posted in Wine

 

Ruca Malen Winery Lunch

15 Jun

View through Stemware at Ruca Malen

Like confused birds, each of the past two years we have migrated from temperate Argentina to cooler, coastal Chile. Last year, before heading across the Andes from Mendoza to Vina del Mar, we had a hit list of wineries to visit before the flight, as we were unsure whether we would return to tranquil, Malbec-soaked Mendoza.   At the top of our list was the wine pairing lunch at Ruca Malen Winery, which was to become one of our favorite meals in Mendoza.

We decided to attend this lunch after I had become well-acquainted with the Ruca Malen’s 2006 Malbec through dinner at a lovely molecular gastronomy restaurant in Mendoza called Molokai.  A few months later, its big sister, the 2007 Kinien, impressed me with its nuanced balance when I tried it in the Wine Republic Wine Tasting. What I most enjoy about this winery, is their old-world approach applied even within wines made within the New World deserts of Mendoza, Argentina.

The food at the winery was both delicious and precisely paired to each of the wines.  To top it off, the view of the Andes was exquisite, and the servers were very professional, making the lunch a great value for the price.  However, the best part of the experience was the family time we had together. There was enough meat to make J. happy on this Father’s Day outing, and a server he befriended poured him an extra tasting of the 2007 Kinien Cabernet Sauvignon (worth trying if you come across it!) Since it was Latin America, children are always invited, even in formal restaurants and wineries. We therefore felt very welcome bringing along our 1-year-old, Siena, who made friends with other diners in the restaurant as she nibbled from our plates and enjoyed drinking from our large glasses of water.

 
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Posted in Food, Wine

 

Drinking Wine in Uruguay: Bouza Bodega Boutique

01 May

In order to understand Tannat, earlier this year we headed to Uruguay to explore the Canelones wine region, meeting with wineries representing both the past and the future of Uruguayan wine. While Uruguay produces many varietals and styles of wine, they have begun making headlines lately for Tannat, their flagship varietal.

It was interesting to walk through the vineyards, speak with winemakers and agronomists, and to see both wineries that have existed for over 100 years and new wineries employing the most up-to-date winemaking philosophies and techniques. The result is that Tannat, traditionally a varietal known for being a bit austere and tannic, now can range from a wine with soft tannins and approachable dark fruits to highly concentrated fruit balanced with oak, with many interesting wines in between for consumers to discover (even one winery producing Tannat that tastes like bubblegum due to partial carbonic maceration. Not all experiments are successful!)


There are a very small handful of wineries really pushing the wine quality to the next level, and Bouza Bodega Boutique is among the very best of the best.

Bouza Bodega Boutique is only growing their own grapes, and subdividing their land into small parcels, each season analyzing each parcel to produce single varietal wines from the best of their best. They pay close attention to every detail of the process, buy all new oak every 3 years, have more demand for their wines than they’re able to meet, and are focused on creating wines to age.

 
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Posted in Wine

 

French Wine in Chile, Fine, but Irish?

25 Sep

Jen and EdThis is almost too easy.  Small production boutique winery making high end value priced wine, check.  Extremely smart and talented winemaker, with impressive resume, check.  Said winemaker, despite being one of the top and most sought after in his market, completely humble and really nice, check.  Wow, Chile, why have you been hiding for so long?

American Ed Flaherty, like his Frenchman companion from MOVI highlighted last month, is kind of a big deal around here.  He’s worked on some pretty big projects for some pretty important names in Chile and Argentina, such as Errazuriz, Zuccardi, and current employer Tarapaca.  As an executive winemaker overseeing many projects, Flaherty Wines is Ed’s attempt to get his hands dirty again.  It is winemaking for the soul, and it shows.

But this is no one man show.  Truly a family wine business, Ed’s wife Jen Hoover is “the other half of the equation.”  Aside from working on various aspects of the business, Jen notes on her blog “wine is ultimately a beverage that is meant to be consumed—and it is rarely consumed on its own.”  Thus Jen spends a good deal of time updating the winery’s blog with “Jen’s Kitchen,” a series of recipes and musings about food.  And she knows what she is talking about.  My wife and I have spent countless hours scheming on how to be invited over for dinner again.  The last time we were in Jen’s kitchen, I had three helpings of pie.  And the time before that as well!

Dinner with Ed and Jen goes by too quickly.  It’s how a dinner with friends should be.  Good conversation, that flows freely like the wine, paired with wonderfully prepared seasonal and organic food, as likely to have come from a country cafe in Sonoma as anywhere.  Did I mention the wine?

2008 Flaherty Aconcagua ValleyThe 2008 Flaherty Aconcagua Valley, like all the Flaherty wines to date, is a truly handcrafted wine, heavy on the “hand.”  For example, the Cabernet and Syrah were hand picked at nearby Manzur Vineyard, and delivered to the house in small picking lugs.  The Tempranillo came from their own vineyard planted in front of the house.  While this wine was literally being made in the garage, the family punched the caps by hand three times daily.  It was then basket pressed and racked to barrel where the components were aged in 15% new American and Romanian oak, the remainder in 2-3 year old French and American oak barrels.

Jennifer, wife, mother, and Certified Sommelier, had this to say about the wine:  ”This wine has a great balance and complexity, which can easily be overlooked as it’s a very accessible wine meant to be enjoyed and not overly analyzed.  However, if you do take the time to savor it, you may notice that this cherry red, day bright wine with medium plus viscosity has some great fruit, savory, and floral notes.  I picked up some plums, cherries, blueberries, rasberries, casis, cactus fruits, cinnamon,hints of chocolate, hazelnuts, white pepper, dried rose petals, hints of tropical flowers like hibiscus, damp leaves, mushrooms, smoky wood.  There is a meaty character to the wine as well, and J (the meat expert) and I had a bit of debate around how to characterize it; apparently bacon wasn’t sufficient, and it’s better described as a proscuitto leaning towards a steak.  The wine has a medium plus acidity and a long finish, making it a great wine to enjoy with food.”

We had ours with avacado and smoked pancetta steak burgers and japanese squash french fries.  Yeah, we’re from California.

 
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Posted in Business, Wine

 
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