Philippe & Brigitte Subra came from France to Mendoza in 1998. Always lovers of wine, they decided to start their own winery in 2003 and began the boutique winery Carinae. Last Wednesday (18 Jan) they came to our Winemaker’s Night and we chatted with them afterwards to learn a bit more about the Franco pair.
Philippe, when did you start to fall in love with wine? What made you want to be a winemaker?
“I have always loved wines but I was not educated in them, so it was really here that we became more attentive to wines. When we saw the winery [in Maipu] we fell in love with the idea of making wine…”
Brigitte, you came to Argentina in slightly later years… Is there anything about Mendocinean life or winemaking that has given you a new lease of life?
“Our love of the people here! The local people are much easier and happy!”
Philippe, Michel Rolland is your wine consultant. How much attention to you pay to what he says? Does he help you maintain a French style?
“… [a moment of silent thought]… Sometimes we have debates about the wine, but in the end we always end up agreeing. And we always come together for decisions.”
Brigitte, Philippe made a wine for you, Cuvee Brigitte, if you could make a wine for him, what would it be and why?
“It definitely needs some Syrah – when I look at our history, Syrah was very important. But it needs to be a blend – maybe with 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Malbec. At a premium level, of course!”
Philippe, you are a big fan of astronomy and Carinae was named after a constellation. What is your favorite wine to drink under the stars?
“The truth is that I never want to see two stars when I am drinking instead of one! Looking at stars is different, but my favorite wine is our Prestige.”
Wines we tried:
Torrontes 2011: Made in Salta, this is their only white wine. It’s quite structured for a torrontes with good acidity and body. Not over powerful in aroma, it’s a much more toned done torrontes which Philippe recommends drinking with oysters.
Malbec Rose 2011: With light strawberry on the nose and a bit of candy-floss, it’s surprising that there is such low residual sugar in this wine. Light, refreshing and easy to drink.
Cuvee Bridgette 2010: This wine was a wine of challenges and unity – much like a marriage, and that’s why it was named after Philippe’s wife. The couple went against their winemaker’s advice and decided to make it on their own, eventually gaining such good responses that they sold it as part of their portfolio. Around 70% Malbec and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, the blend has lots of ripe fruit in the mouth and some mineral notes on the nose.
Syrah Reserva, 2010: This is an intense Syrah that offers a lot of interesting aromas and flavors. A meaty wine with a sweeter finish but plenty of robust tannins to take through the years.
Malbec Gran Reserve 2008: A very dark and inky malbec, the longer time in barrel gives this a deep and rich complexity with lots of pepper, spice and rich red berries. A gorgeous wine that has a very bold expression of Malbec but leaves a lingering trace of a tiramisu…
Winemaker’s Night is held every Wednesday at The Vines Tasting Room. Each night a different winemaker comes to share their wines and explain about their winery. To learn more about Carinae visit www.carinaevinos.com
Amanda Barnes is a British journalist living in Mendoza and steadily improving her spanish but still failing terribly to pronounce any French wine words correctly.
