Winemaker’s Day: the constant challenge to achieve the best wine

Like every September 7thin Argentina the day is celebrated Winemaker’s Dayconsidered the guardian of the winery. This is an essential figure whose mission is to guard the winemaking process. came and achieve the best final product with dedication and technique, from the grape to the bottle.

Over the years, the evolution of the winemaker’s task has become more relevant. Not only must he produce what common sense calls “a good wine” but, in addition to experimentation, the development of techniques and technological advances, professionals in this branch transmit their seal, their style and their imprint in each bottle.

This means that wine, as a final product resulting from a series of processes, also contains the distinctive character of a place, the climate and, of course, the hand of the winemaker who always seeks the best, in every detail, without leaving anything to chance.

The challenges of the winemaker to achieve the best wine

On this very special day, Scope spoke with leading winemakers to discuss the challenges of making wine, and to gain a closer look at the world that each bottle brings to the table.

Rodrigo Serrano Alouwinemaker at Domaine Bousquet, said: “It is a constant challenge in terms of the quality and consistency of the wine. We are the guardians of a brand and for me it is very rewarding, mainly because it is my passion. The winemaker is responsible for ensuring that, from the winery backwards and from the winery forwards, everything is fine. Our job is to make wine, put the wine in a bottle and have it reach the world, communicate in the world, travelling and presenting the wines in different markets.”

For Jorge Rubiowinemaker and founder of the winery that bears his name, “to make a good wine, quality always begins in the vineyard. You have to know it well, explore it and adapt it to your area. The more you know the vineyard well, the easier it will be to obtain good wines in the winery. Just as we say, ‘every master with his own book’, each winemaker has his own methods and techniques for making the best wines.”

Meanwhile, the winemaker Ezequiel Ortego From Trapiche Costa&Pampa he highlighted: “The biggest challenges we have are knowing how to interpret the place where our wines come from and how to capture that in the bottle. The main factor is good raw material for any type of wine we are going to make. There is a very famous saying that says that you can make a bad wine from a good grape, but you cannot make a good wine from a bad grape. Another factor is the human factor, having people who know what they do and why they do it, from the harvester to the winery operator. Finally, it is necessary that whoever participates in its elaboration does so with passion. I am lucky that all the members of my team love their work and are proud to say that I am part of that wine.”

For its part, Adrian Toledowinemaker at the Sottano Colosso winery, explained: “The best wine is the one that each person likes. If we are going to talk about quality, it is nothing more and nothing less than the sum of a lot of details: from the vineyard, the monitoring, the study, getting nature to accompany the harvest, among other factors. It is a great satisfaction. I was very excited to find a publication of our wines in Japan and Hong Kong, it made me excited to think about the path that this wine took. I always say that we have a bunch of bad decisions that we made within the winery and the revenge is next year: to write down and correct the necessary things to achieve an improvement in detail.”

The moment of viticulture in Argentina

To analyse the current state of the industry and its interaction with consumers, wine professionals also gave their opinions on the current state of wine in the country.

Rodrigo Serrano Alou He reflected: “I would divide it into two major moments: first, Argentine viticulture is clearly growing in terms of quality, details, standardization of processes, in terms of understanding what it means to make quality wines. We are on that path, which began several years ago, and we are seeing more and more results and that makes me proud because I feel like I am part of it. It is a challenge to be able to be there, to maintain and to grow. That is, to be able to do things well so that those who chose us at the time continue to choose us and so that those who do not know us are encouraged to choose us.”

For Jorge Rubiocurrently the wine industry “There is still a lot of progress and precision viticulture is still being practiced, the wineries are well equipped.” He added: “The winemakers bring a lot of knowledge, much of it from their travels around the world, from where they bring applications and production systems to our areas. Despite the fact that the industry is going through a difficult situation, as in other areas, we quickly adapt to all these processes to continue offering quality products.”

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From the grapes in the vineyard to the bottle served on the table, the winemaker oversees the entire process.

Likewise, for Ezequiel Ortego “Nowadays, no matter what price range you are in, you have many good wines on the shelves.” The Costa&Pampa winemaker said: “I am a professor at the university and I try wines from all segments and companies with my students in sensory analysis classes, and I see the surprised faces when we try wines from economic segments, surprised by the good quality and flavor of those products. Or I try products from higher ranges and I can see the variety of styles that there are and that attract different types of palates and consumers. We are in a great moment of qualitative growth in the industry and we must celebrate it.”

Adrian Toledo He also highlighted that today “we are going through a great moment”, in which he distinguished “how oenology and consumers have been evolving”. “We came from a more “extreme” oenology and now we add more methods and alternatives in the use of wood and in the harvest, for example. We are going down that path, it will take us many years but I think that this is the way”, concluded the oenologist.