Bubbly from the Spanish-speaking world
Submitted by Nikki on
Think the good stuff only comes from France and Italy?
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Finca las Nubes: Wines from Bodega Mounier
Submitted by Nikki on
Visiting Finca las Nubes
First charmed by Mounier when tasting its incredible Torrontés in Mendoza, we jumped at the opportunity to visit the winery, known by both Mounier and Finca las Nubes, and located in beautiful Cafayate in the north of Argentina.
Eleven years old, this boutique winery makes affordable and wonderful wines. The only drawback for North American consumers is its export ratio: 90% of the production remains within the country while a tiny 10% is exported. Since the winery makes a mere 50,000 bottles annually, not much ends up on wine shop shelves in the US.
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Wines from Chile's Colchagua Valley: Mont Gras
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Visiting Mont Gras
Of the Chilean wineries we visited, Mont Gras was a less inspiring tour. In comparison to the more authentic Viu Manent, their hacienda plays the role of "Disney Winery" being much more modern and lacking much of the charm. On the bright side, they guided us through the experimental section of their vineyards and let us taste several different grape varietals direct from the vine. Frankly, it all tasted like grapes to me - the biggest difference was in the ripeness and sweetness of each grape which varies from week to week. I couldn't taste a flavor difference in the grapes themselves.
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Wine from the end of the earth: Patagonian reds
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Wineries of Patagonia: Dino Vino
A relatively new wine industry is cropping up in Neuquén, Argentina, a province making up the north of Patagonia, known for its dinosaur bones. The three wineries we visited, NQN, Bodega del fin del Mundo, and Familia Schroeder, are all relatively large wineries with decent advertising budgets. Their success has been notable outside of Argentina, perhaps due to the allure of drinking a wine from an area thought to be exotic and uncontaminated. The wines, however, are not just enjoyed abroad: a recent article reported residents of Neuquén consume more wine than milk in their diets.
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Wines of Viu Manet, makers of El Secreto
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Viu Manet winery tour
Viu Manet is a winery with a rich history in the Colchagua Valley in Chile. At the winery tour, we were taken from the tourist house to the winery by way of the vineyards while riding in horse-drawn carriages. Our chauffeurs were dressed in traditional Chileno garb and were great story tellers. The winery itself ("5 million liters a year - quite small") was pretty standard, but the tourism house - with a restaurant, gift shop, and tasting room - was quite stunning. The historic hacienda which provides the ambiance for this building only made the offering more charming.
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Favorite Wines of Chile: Montes Winery
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Visiting Montes
Bodega Montes has piqued our interest ever since hearing about it from the winemaker at Kaiken, its younger sister winery in Mendoza.
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A Family-Run Boutique Winery: Bodega Sottano
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Bodega Sottano's story
On the same road where you'll find Séptima and Ruca Malén, relatively new winery Sottano is making some great wines and is opening its doors to winery tours. The winery is a shared project of the three Sottano brothers, natives of Mendoza with Italian heritage and a family history of bulk winemaking. The winery building was designed by the brothers with the goals of fitting into the desert landscape of Mendoza and on the inside, being able to see all aspects of the winery from one place: the cellars and barrels, the tanks, the vineyard, and, of course, the beautiful Andes mountains that provide the water runoff that makes grape-growing possible in Mendoza.
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Bodega La Azul
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La Azul Winery
This enormously cute winery in Valley de Uco of Mendoza, Argentina, La Azul is one of the smallest production wineries we've visited. Perhaps their size allows the focus and attention needed to produce some incredible wines. Like many wineries in Mendoza, Azul is a relatively new winery in Argentina with its first wines produced in 2003.
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The makers of Alamos Wine: Catena Zapata
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The Catena Family: An Argentine Tradition
An Argentine wine institution, Catena Zapata is one of the most important wineries in Mendoza. The Catena family includes four generations of winemakers and was one of the earliest to make wine in Argentina, planting their first Malbec vines in 1902.
Catena Zapata winery
The architecture of the winery is one of the most unique in Mendoza. The building is pyramid-shaped and was inspired by Mayan architecture. Although the building is certainly interesting to look at and the view is nice from the top, it wasn't built as much with function in mind unlike wineries like O. Fournier which has fused beautiful architecture with function.
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From the makers of Zolo wines, Bodega Tapiz
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The story of Tapiz
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