Elqui Wines: The Northern star of Chilean winemaking

Leave a comment

Meet winemaker Steffan Jorgensen and Find out about his Unique wines

I wonder if it was a mistake to start my Chilean wine tour in the Elqui valley visiting Elqui Wines. Why? Because I don’t think it can get any better. Why? Because I tasted some mind blowing red wines and learned about a truely unique region.

Let me tell you a little bit about the Elqui valley, the winery and the people behind it as well as show you the wines I was invited to taste. I hope you will get curious about the region as well as Elqui Wines.

DSC01566

If you order your wine here, this is what you will get – from the outside.

 

The Elqui Valley: Where Vines have to struggle a bit

This valley is the most Northern wine growing region of Chile. It borders the Atacama desert, the world’s driest desert, in the North, the Andes in the East and the Pacific in the West. But how does this influence wine growing? Well, it’s dry, very dry, there is a lot of sunshine which is good for a continuous growing period. But at the same time the Pacific blows its cold wind, known as the Humboldt current, directly into the valley. There are no coastal ranges as in other parts of Chile that function as a barrier. This wind cools down the air and brings freshness and saltiness into the vineyards. Continue reading →

Join the tour: Bodega del Tupun in the Uco Valley, Mendoza

Leave a comment

Spoiler alert: I could kill for that Pinot Noir!

This bodega comes to me as a surprise. Literally! Let’s do a bit of story telling here before I give you the hard facts and a tour of the bodega.

One sunny morning I take the bus from Mendoza to Tupungato to meet Javier Aller who is supposed to show me his wine and where he makes it. When I get off the bus Javier is already waiting for me and with him a friend, Diego, who turns out to be our translator. What a great surprise and thank God for that! The next surprise comes a few minutes later: Javier drives pass Bodega del Tupun, the oldest winery in the region, as he explains, and drives right into their parking lot where apparently he arranged a tour for me by winemaker Ariel Angelini. I am thrilled and excited when greeted by Ariel and even more thrilled and excited once we enter the old bodega building that dates back to the 1920s. Javier later shows me his wine production as well, this I will tell you in another blog post.

DSC01490

Let’s start with the hard facts, quick and dirty, about Bodega del Tupun before I give you the tour: Continue reading →

Roussillion wine region at its best

Leave a comment

Meet winemaker CaRrie Sumner: From New York to the South of France

Carrie Sumner and her husband Marcel Bühler run Domaine des Enfants in Maury, in the Roussillion wine region in South of France. The closest biggest city is Perpignan. For a long time, wine making in the Roussillion was dominated by cave cooperatives. This means that individual wine growers would deliver their grapes to the cooperatives which would then make the wine under a cooperative label.

DSC00684

Carrie testing the reds for the upcoming blending.

In recent years, however, the Roussillion saw a change to this practise. An increasing number of wine makers run their own domaines and sell their wines under their own labels. This gives them more flexibility in the whole process of wine growing and making.

One of these domains is Domaine des Enfants. Carrie and Marcel own vineyards in different parts of the region with different soils and grapes as old as 70 years. This diversity is refelcted in their complex and well-structured wines.

I was lucky to work along Carrie and Marcel for a period of two weeks just before and during harvest 2015. Carrie in particular has been my mentor and my guide, explaining to me the single steps in the wine making process. It was a real pleasure to work along Carrie and be able to learn so much from her. Continue reading →

Visiting Bodega Nanni in Cafayate

Leave a comment

Cafayate, a small town of roughly 13 000 inhabitants in the province of Salta, is the wine capital in the Northwest of Argentina. Surrounded by spectacular mountain ranges, it is home to numerous Bodegas. Some of them are even in the city centre and therefore easily accessible. One of the bodegas we visit is Bodega Nanni, the only certified organic winery in Cafayate.

DSC01253

 

We get there in the afternoon and are nicely greetd by the Bodega staff. After a relaxing time in the beautifully set out garden surrounded by Tannat, Torrontes and Cabernet Sauvignion grapes, we get a tour through the winery. This is what we learn: Continue reading →

Alejandro Barrientos on being a sommelier and current trends in Argentinian wine industry

Leave a comment

“Learning from the best”

Alejandro

Alejandro Barrientos

For many people the 21st of October 2015 maybe be just a normal day like any other normal day. But for me, the 21st of October 2015 is a special day. It is the day I am in Buenos Aires to meet Alejandro Barrientos for an interview. Alejandro, originally from Spain, was introduced to me as one of the best sommeliers in Argentina and I am super excited and a little nervous to meet this great man. And when I finally meet him, I am impressed by his kindness, his modesty, his great knowledge fo wine and sense of humour.

We meet in his wine shop, Sacra Vinotecas, in downtown Buenos Aires. The wine shop is held in white and purple colours, freshly cut flowers are on the tables, wine bottles are displayed along the walls . The atmosphere is elegant but at the same time very personal. Alejandro Barrientos opened the wine shop after having worked as the head sommelier in one of Argentinas best hotels. He and the hotel were so good, that he even served the king of Spain! This information does not make me less nervous, I must admit.

Read on to find out how Alejandro Barrientos has become one of the best sommeliers, what advice he has got for you on becoming a good sommelier, what he has got to say about wine growing in Argentina and overall about his love for wine. Enjoy! Continue reading →