How Mendoza is similar to Ribera del Duero and Why That's Important

Many years ago I had the pleasure of spending a number of days in the Ribera del Duero with Allejandro Fernandez of Pesquera. It was explained to me by his importer, Steve Metzler, a absolute scholar of Spanish wine, that great Ribera was rooted in the ability of a grower to blend Tempranillo from all of the complex microclimates in the DO in order to capture the true essence of what Ribera del Duero was truly all about. That ability comes from a lifetime spent among those various subregions, tasting the fruit, learning the quirks that each plot has as a result of it's exposure, elevation or soil type.

Often this is not the MO of other regions (the MO of other DO's), the best Burgundy comes from single vineyards and Bordeaux and the Rhone are often blends of varieties within an estate. However, in Mendoza the Ribera approach is being met with great success. And while I watch with great trepidation what some of the Big Brand wine companies are doing to Malbec, I believe that those producers who have the depth of knowledge and experience to capture the essence of Mendoza Malbec will be those who maintain the true integrity of the region. When I taste the wines of Hector Durigutti and learn about his approach, I can't help but drawing comparisons to the great Pesquera.

Having spent his earlier years helping to put Altos de Las Hormigas on the map, Hector Durigutti and his brother Pablo have been quietly crafting wonderful wines from Mendoza. While everyone is talking about the Uco Valley and Lujan, Hector is not only able to delve deeper into some of the more obscure subregions of Mendoza but is then able to artfully blend the wines from those regions into something which is truly beautiful. In the instance of his entry-level Malbec reviewed below by Steven Tanzer, he combines fruit from Consulta for tannin and structure, Agrelo for the herbal and balsamic tones and Medrano for fruit intensity.

It is producers like Hector who got us all very interested in great value Malbecs to begin with (wasn't Altos de Las Hormigas among the first important new school Malbecs?) and it will be producers like him that keep Malbec from Argentina from falling into the same pit as Shiraz from Australia.

Comments

Something about Elena

I first noticed it during an extensive tasting of rieslings from Terry Theise portfolio. Most of the wines (grower champagnes included) were either organic or biodynamic and there was a similarity among all of them...vibrance, lift and a clear presence of high tones. There was just something "lively" about them. One of the most recent wines in the Row 95 portfolio to go Organic is the Campos de Risca. Though from the "Campos" group, the wine is from a small family estate in Jumilla run by the third generation, Elena Pacheco. Risca are large broken limestone rocks of which their vineyard is entirely comprised. These suckers aren't the smooth rounded boulders of Chateauneuf, they are rough cut, jagged and virtually impossible to walk on. Nothing else lives there,...weeds, bugs, and frankly I don't know why anything would want to. Mourvedre, however, loves it...the heat, those stones, no competition from pesky weeds, as Goldilocks...

The Soils of St. Nicolas de Bourgueil

Whether they come from Chinon, Samur or Bourgueil, Cabernet Franc based reds from the Loire conjure Laphroaig-esque impressions to knowing wine drinkers. They are often pungent, herbaceous, wildly complex wines with a small cult-like well-read fan-base. Not in the mainstream for sure. Just as Laphroaig is not indicative of all single malts, reds from the Loire region don't all share these same outsized traits. The wines from Xavier Amirault are just such an exception and it's not by accident that Vineyard Brands, an importer with deep roots in burgundy would be the kind of company to bring these wines into the United States. Land close to the banks of the Loire river is quite fertile and is reserved for cereals and pasture. Things begin to get interesting as one moves upwards from lower valley. Lower parcels in the Clos de Quarterons, the Amirault family's estate, have deep (up to 25 feet) gravelly soils which drain well and where generous ra...

Shaking Hands with the Beach

The beauty of good Verdicchio is in its steadfastness. Alongside the dramatic flavors of garlic and basil often a wine built on a foundation of minerals will pair seamlessly. The Velenosi from the Castelli di Jesi is just such a wine. Terry Theise once said that drinking great Mosel riesling was like shaking hands with a mountain, if that's the case then drinking great Verdicchio is like shaking hands with the beach. The sandy soils of Angela Velenosi's vineyards hallmark for the region, make for a wine with terrific structure. In the hands winemaker Attilio Pagli the restrained white flower, almond and delicate fruit tones are revealed in perfect balance. With the myriad of intense Italian flavors set against the neutrality of pasta, great Verdicchio is one which provides the mouth-watering counterpoint...just about perfectly. Of those, Velenosi is the real sleeper...restrained, subtly filigreed but, above all, steadfast.

Atlantic Wine Project

Search This Blog