High -end tags: stories behind great Argentine wines

Along the same lines, Jimena López Campos, Manager of Enology of AndelunaHe argued that “From oenology we understand that a wine is designed in the vineyard”, Highlighting the detailed work on plots, clones, pruning, harvesting and parenting.“ This are parameters that allow us to have a grape that translates into a high quality wine. The maturity control, together with the optimal harvest point of the grapes, added to an elaboration process taking care of the details in each step are also fundamental. The conservation time in vessels and/or barrels and finally the cutting or blending process ends the work of the oenology ”, the expert synthesized.

In La Celiahis chief of oenology, Andrea Ferreyra, also stressed that high -end wines “They come from exceptional terroir and have been elaborated with very careful methods”

For his part, Adrián Toledo, winemaker of Sottano, Colosso Wines and no rules He added an integral vision: “The high range is built from the vineyard, with a thorough selection of plots that give us fruit of the very high balance and concentration. Then, each decision in the winery is guided by the search for complexity, elegance and guard capacity.”

Manuel González Vals, head of oenology of Don Manuel Villafañe: “A high -end wine in our winery was born in the vineyard, first of all in the exhaustive knowledge of the place of origin. I worry about carefully choosing the plots destined for this end of each variety. Then a long way comes from the elaboration, through the parenting in barrels, until you reach the bottle; in all that way the details are preponderant.”

Wines that tell a story

Each winery has its icon, that wine that represents it clearly. “Our icon wine is the Gran Reserva, with which we started making a Malbec, Bonarda and Syrah blend,” says Javier Collosati, Winemaker of Valle de la Puerta, a winery located in Chilecito, La Rioja. Then they added varietal versions of Malbec and Bonarda, the latter elaborated with the historic French strain Corbeau-Noir. “The label, with a feline inspired by the diaguitas villages that inhabited the region, represents the strength and spirit of La Rioja,” he explained.

In Chakana, his winemaker chose Ayni Gravas Malbecan organic game of just 1700 bottles that is not made every year. “It is special for the stone content of the soil and its label, which tells a story, a cycle, with the unique moments of each harvest,” Devia explained.

In Sottano, star wine is the provocative Judas Malbec. “It was a wine that was originally made for the family, but one of the brothers decided to sell it without consent. When they tried it, everyone agreed that it was exceptional. Hence his name”, Reveals Toledo.

“In warehouse without rules, our top line is called Archangels. It is a true creative freedom laboratory: Each of the 7 wines that compose it changes year after year, both in varietal and origin. They can come from Gualtallary, from El Peral, or even new microParcela. There are no recipes or repetitions: only exploration, intuition and desire to count something new every time, ”said Toledo.

The Celia opted for a line that puts the ground before the variety. Thus their three were born Terws“We reap and vinify each part separately, comparing and selecting the blocks that best expressed the place. Thus these wines were born, a unique line that carries in their DNA the best interpretation of our vineyard.” Said Ferreyra, who added that each label is different and represents the profile of the origin of origin.

In Andeluna, the icons are Malbec emblem and Of the Cabernet Franco plotwines that are born of microvinifications in the best sectors of Gualtallary. “They are unique because each winemaker, voluntarily or involuntarily prints their mark,” said López Campos.

Don Manuel Villafañe also has an outstanding wine. “The icon wine is IV Centenarya blend of inks. The name refers to the 4 centuries of arrival to these lands by Don Manuel Villafañe, who arrived in Argentina from Spain as a soldier to fight the English pirates who attacked Spanish ships. He later settled in South America as a farmer, and became a pioneer of viticulture in Argentina for being one of the first to plant vines in that land. “González Vals said.

1 Chakana Visitor Center (27)

Terroir, precision and sensitivity

For these projects, Terroir is not just a geographical origin. “It is the fundamental pillar on which we base the expression of our wines,” said Devia. And in Chakana that search relies on biodinamics, a minimum intervention in the winery and letting the place speak for itself.

For its part, Valle de la Puerta, has a characteristic that distinguishes it: an area of a lot of thermal and sun amplitude is located in Chilecito La Rioja, which makes its wines special. “We are at the foot of the Famatina mountain, which is a mountain range that is 6200 meters above sea level, it is the highest in America, it is not a mountain range, but it has eternal snows and glaciers,” said Collovati. “That makes us have a very good thermal amplitude and allows us to have very quality wines. In addition to it, there is a lot of sun and that gives a characteristic to the wines of a lot of fruit,” added the specialist.

In Andeluna, the concept is mountain wines. “We are at 1300 meters above sea level, with very poor soils with a few centimeters of sand and under that first layer the stone appears with some calcareous. In addition to the thermal amplitude marked between day and night. All this makes the IG expressed strongly in our wines with a very high coloring intensity, very good tornic concentration in the wines and a tremendous bodyguard,” López Campos described.

Ferreyra added that “Each wine is a specific place and moment“And Toledo, on the other hand, said:” The Terroir is the heart of each of our wines we try to accompany more than intervene. Each bottle is a postcard of the vineyard. ”

“The terroir is really what defines a wine, it is impossible not to transmit the place of origin since nature is so genuine that simply maintaining a respect for it can identity achieve. Just as people we cannot escape our origin, the vines cannot dodge their origin and therefore express all that complex information in the wine,” González Vals said.

Adrian Toledo Ok

Argentine luxury challenges

The Argentine economic context appears as one of the great challenges, since the fluctuating economy and tax pressure sometimes make it difficult to project a long -term wine.

But there is another challenge that today occupies an important place: position high -end Argentine wine in the world. “We are still more associated with wines of good price-quality ratio than with luxury,” said Toledo. “Today we are making an effort to demonstrate that the true expression of the place does not reside in opulence, but in the purity and honesty of the origin,” added Devia.

Without a doubt, the Argentine high -end wines are redefining luxury. It is no longer just a concentration, barrel and gold label. It is about identity, of origin, artisanal decisions and patients. As Toledo summarizes: “We do not seek only immediate impact, but depth, persistence and an identity that makes it unrepeatable.” And that search, although challenging, is already marking the new map of the Argentine luxury wine.