Saturday, February 26, 2011

Three Excellent Wineries

We spent our last day in Mendoza visiting three very different wineries, each excellent in its own way.

Viña Cobos has the highest rated wines in Argentina. One of their wines, at 99 points, was the highest rated wine in South America. One of the owners, Luis Barraud, gave us a tour and tasting of their excellent Felino and Bramare wines.




Our second winery was Achaval-Ferrer, where we had a most interesting tasting with Julian, hospitality manager. We tasted several wines in two forms: barrel and bottle. We also tasted the component parts (Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot) of the Quimera blend, then Quimera from the barrel, and Quimera from the bottle. Then we tasted the three single-vineyard Malbecs, both barrel and bottle. It was all very enlightening to see how the wines change along the way.





Our third visit was to Tempus Alba in Maipú. The Biondolillo family has been in the wine business for more than 100 years. We met with Aldo, two of his sons and his nephew. Tradition, yes, but also focused on the future, with scientific selection of the grape clones and an investment in wine tourism. And excellent wines.

The company dogma (what we might call values) are prominently displayed.



The family also is thinking about the next generation. The premium wine, Vero, features the fingerprints of three of Aldo's grandchildren (a fourth was due within days).

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