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Archive for August, 2009

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Tomorrow- The Vines Quarterly Live Conference Call

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Be sure to sign up for tomorrow’s Quarterly Conference call on The Argentine Wine Market & Export Trends with The Vines of Mendoza!

RSVP to: emilia@vinesofmendoza.com and you can also email questions for the panelists before and during the call to michael@vinesofmendoza.com

Phone: 310 539 2229
 Passcode: 806739

We have a stellar panel including: Laura Catena, Barbara Insel, Tony Correia, and Santiago Achaval.

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Check out the recent article by Barbara on The Argentine Wine Market and see you all tomorrow!

“US consumers see Argentina as a new discovery, a good value, something intriguing”
http://www.winesur.com/ver_nota.php?nota=19320

- Which is your perception about the US wine market?
The US wine market will continue growing: only 12-14% of American adults consume wine more than once a month and the US ranks 38th in the world in per capita wine consumption so there is plenty of room to grow. Also, many American producers are quite focused on the ‘Millennium’ generation – those born after 1980 – who seem to be quite interested in wine.
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LIVE CONFERENCE CALL | The Argentine Wine Market and Export Trends

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

conference-call-invite

Please join us for one of our quarterly live conference calls

The Argentine Wine Market and Export Trends

Panelists:

Barbara Insel - a leading speaker on the business of wine in the US
Tony Correia - an interntional vineyard valuation expert
Laura Catena – owner of the highly esteemed, vineyard specific Luca Wines in Mendoza, Argentina
Santiago Achaval - one of Argentina’s leading winemakers
Michael Evans & Pablo Gimenez Riili - co-founders, The Vines of Mendoza

Date: Tuesday, September 1st
Time: 1 pm PDT  |  4 pm EDT  |  5 pm ARG

Phone: (+1) 310 539 2229
Passcode: 806739

Please RSVP and email any questions that you would like to add to this conversation prior to September 1st: emilia@vinesofmendoza.com

* Please note we will be taping this conversation and sharing it as a podcast

Posted in In the News, Vines Events | No Comments »


An Argentine Red to Brighten a Rainy Weekend

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

This is the title James Molesworth,Wine Spectator Senio Editor,  used in one of his latest wine reviews to talk about a Malbec from Argentina.

I just have a comment to add…. I would say this is an Argentine red to brighten any day in your life… it doesn’t matter whether it is rainy, cloudy or sunny .. I am sure you will enjoy it!

This is a wine we are having a great success in our current shipment of our Acequia Wine Club because of its great value! You can also get it in our On Line Store for only $19.

Punto Final Reserva

An Argentine Red to Brighten a Rainy Weekend

Bodega Renacer Malbec Mendoza Punto Final Reserva 2006

James Molesworth
Posted: August 24, 2009

To try and beat a rainy weekend day in New York’s Hudson Valley, I took the whole family out for lunch at Terrapin restaurant in Rhinebeck. It’s got a solid wine list, and the modern American cooking on the casual bistro side is fresh comfort food—salads, sandwiches and the like—but taken up a notch.

I went for the duck confit, gruyère and smoked onion in a pita and eyed this Argentine Malbec for a mere $33 on the list. The Punto Final Reserva is ripe, polished and pure, with well-integrated toast letting the blackberry, raspberry and spice notes play out. The red didn’t overwhelm the food at all, and it was just as fresh at the end of the bottle as it was at the beginning.

Though located in Argentina, Bodega Renacer is actually owned by a Chilean businessman, Patricio Reich, who uses consultant Alberto Antonini in concert with winemaker Héctor Durigutti. They source this wine from 50-year-old vines located in both the Perdriel and La Consulta areas of Mendoza and give it just a year in a mix of new and used barrels before bottling.

This delicious value delivers an outstanding Argentine Malbec experience, with pure, ripe—but not overdone—fruit. I found it hard to argue with my official review at 91 points.

WineSpectator.com members: Read the original blind-tasting review for Bodega Renacer Malbec Mendoza Punto Final Reserva 2006 (91, $20).

Posted in Behind the bottle, In the News, Tasting Notes | No Comments »


THE VINES WINE TRAINING; Part II – Luján de Cuyo

Monday, August 24th, 2009

In our week of wine training, we did another winery tour in Luján de Cuyo … My favorite wine tour of the region so far!

We visited ACHAVAL-FERRER, MELIPAL & WALTER BRESSIA. Three wineries where you can enjoy stunning landscapes, state-of-the art buildings, fabulous food and of course top-notch wines!

We started the day at Achaval- Ferrer Winery whose wines have already been worldwide recognized among some of the best wines in Argentina and the world.

A group of Argentinean and Italian friends started this adventure in 1998. Santiago Achaval – current president of Achaval- Ferrer winery and Consultant Winemaker for our project of Private Vineyards Estates – and Manuel Ferrer are the Argentinean partners. The Italian partners are Roberto Cipresso, (the winemaker), and Tiziano Siviero. Both Italians also own La Fiorita Winery in Montalcino.
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Off to work…

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Friday morning at the Private Vineyard Estates…I love the snow in the Mountains.

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PATAGONIA…. WINE, APPLES, AND DINOSAURUS!!

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Wine scouting is one of the activities I enjoy the most doing being a sommelier. Last week, I headed towards Patagonia in search of new wines for our Acequia wine club and On Line Store. Surely, it was also a great opportunity to enjoy the delightful landscapes from the South!

Located in the southern end of the American continent, it is likely to think of Patagonia as the place of endless natural landscapes. This assumption is absolutely correct! To the West, next to the Andes, we can find stunning lakes,  gorgeous snowed mountains, millenary glaciers, crystal clear cascades among many other exciting attractions.

Moreover, I found out Patagonia was home of some of the largest dinosaur skeletons found to date, becoming a paradise for paleontologists.

Concerning the economy, Alto Valle de Río Negro – Río Negro’s High Valley – and Neuquén are the main oil-drilling sites in the south of Argentina. It is, also, the place where the most significant agriculture development is found in Patagonia Argentina, being their pears and apples widely known worldwide.

Patagonia also meets several natural conditions and ideal characteristics  for growing vineyards, becoming the southernmost viticulture region in Argentina.

patagonia vineyards

patagonia vineyards
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EL Norte

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

On our trip through the North we found some great wines from Mournier, El Porvenir, Yacochuya and Colome (among others), countless tamales and humita. cool music in Salta and even a bullfight in Jujuy.  I can’t wait to go back.

Places we recommend:

Wineries: Mournies, El Porvenir, Yachochuya & Colome

Hotels:  Cafayate – Vinas de Cafayate Wine Resort & Patios de Cafayate

Restaurants: Colorado (Cafayate); La Casona del Molin0 (Salta)

Posted in Experiences, Life in Mendoza, Mendoza Bodegas, Photos | No Comments »


THE VINES WINE TRAINING; Part I – Luján de Cuyo

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Activities at The Vines of Mendoza Tasting Room were stopped for three weeks… but that’s just for tourists, for there was still much going on out of visitor’s sight!

While the doors were close for the public,The Vines Tasting Room & Vinoteca team have had an enviable training program scheduled: visiting highly-regarded wineries, tasting wines with the winemakers themselves, and having lunch surrounded by peaceful and refreshing landscapes are parts and parcels of the job everyone would love to have.

Noelia, one of our wine servers, can tell us more about this great wine training experience.
Noelia

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Intensity in Cafayate

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

We had a wonderful time in Cafayate — it’s like a little Mendoza with beautiful mountains, great wines and very nice people.  It seems that there are only about 20 wineries in Cafayate, and many are giant producers that I don’t find too interesting.  But on the other end of the scale is Jose Mournier.  Originally from Mendoza, Jose and his wife Mercedes bought a small vineyard in Cafayate about 12 years ago and are now producing about 50,000 bottles of wine.  They sell about 1/2 of the production at the vineyard (with the below views and quality of the wine, it is not surprising).  Their Torrontes is a frequent companion to our asados at The Vines and I was extremely impressed with the 2005 Malbec/Cab blend that should be released in a few months.

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Jose Mournier Vineyards, Cafayate

Yacochuya

After tasting 7 wines at 9am with Jose Mournier (which may have been the reason that I splattered Bryan with wine — on his birthday, no less), we headed a few miles north and 500 meters higher to visit the San Pedro de Yacochuya winery and vineyards.  At 2,005 meters, this partnership between the Etchart family and Michel Rolland has created some real powerhouse wines.  Marco Etchart was a great host, showing us the winery and tasting countless wines from tanks and barrels.  Their top wine “Yacochuya” is one of the most intense wines I have ever tasted.  A blockbuster with 17+% alcohol, this surprisingly and elegantly balanced wine is surely one of Argentina’s best.

San Pedro de Yacochuya Vineyards

Bryan celebrating his birthday at Yacochuya

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Research trip to Salta

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Bryan and I loaded up the pick up and headed to Cafayate in the province of Salta in far North of Argentina.  We traveled about 1,100 km in 14 hours — and when we arrived it was worth every minute of the journey.  Below is “La Quebrada de Cafayate” — a large canyon that runs between Cafayate and Salta capital.

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We visited the El Porvenir bodega (loosely translated as ‘forward-looking”).  They have a beautiful winery, and wines to match.  In one word, their wines are all about balance.  Given the heat and altitude here in Cafayate (about 500 meters higher than Mendoza), the wines from the region tend to be very, very intense.  El Porvenir keeps that intensity, but in a balanced and elegant way.  We tasted 10 wines before lunch… My favorites were the 2006 Laborum Malbec and their insanely juicy 2005 yet-to-be-named and yet-to be-released blend.  It’s a powerhouse.  Bryan shared my liking of the blend and fell in love with their very nice Tannat.

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