Magic Malbec Masterclass

The last 2 weeks we have considered an impromptu holiday in the middle of a fast paced travelling schedule. The first three and a half weeks were 2 days here, one day there and full of planes trains and automobiles (OK, no trains but you get the picture). So, before we head out of Mendoza (Monday) we thought we'd like to learn about wine making in the hope that we can make the most out of our large grapevine we have in our back garden at home..... If you believe that, you'll believe anything!

And so we headed out on Friday morning to visit 3 of Mendoza's 3000 wineries.

Our first stop was 'Clos de Chacras', a medium sized vineyard with an outstanding team of hard working people that run the winery day to day, producing some of the best wines in the region.

Our English speaking guide went to university to become a sommelier and right from the start of our tour we could tell she was so passionate about wine. The way she spoke about their wine making process with such pride really drew us in and as she continued, she referred to the 'magic' of wine numerous times. We could see she completely loved her job, believed in the winery and truly was besotted with their wine! We hoped the owners were aware of her loyalty and passion. If my next employee was half as passionate as she was, I'd have a true company ambassador on my hands.

She started by showing us the vines. These were relatively young vines at just 5 years old (the last vines we saw were planted in 1888!) and she showed us a fine netting mesh that covered every grape. Many people think this is to stop the birds eating the grapes but it's not. Mendoza has very little bad weather; only ten days of rain per year but, when it does rain, it often comes with heavy hail storms and these can destroy grapes in a matter of minutes. The mesh protects the fruit whilst still allowing the sun through.

Because of Mendoza's steady climate (only 10 days of rain and pretty much hot all the time), the wine makers are able to produce consistent, excellent wines as they know exactly what the weather is going to do and how many day's sunshine will ripen their grapes to the perfect taste and yield. In Europe, sommeliers often advise people to choose a certain bottle of wine saying, "It was a good year" or tell people to avoid certain wines as it was a, "bad year". This is because our weather is so inconsistent. Lots of rain means weaker tasting grapes. Less rain means a more intense flavoured grape but too little rain may spoil the crop completely. I think European wine makers have a much harder job!

The lack of rain in Mendoza means that every vine has its own water supply; either a drip feed hose running just above the roots or a channel where, every 3 weeks the wine maker will divert a flow of fresh mountain water. Again, this is not guess work. He or she will plan exactly how many litres of water each vine will get to produce the perfect crop. This is science in action and we were already completely enthralled with this fascinating process.

The grapes are still hand picked and brought through to the processing area where we were shown the various machines that were used to separate the grapes from the stalks. The berries (grapes) are then placed on to a long vibrating, stainless steel worktop where specially trained staff hand pick each grape that will end up giving its life to become a Clos de Chacras wine.

The machinery where the magic happens with Lauren playing some kind of game of charades!

Next we saw the huge concrete tanks where the wine is stored, fermented and then siphoned off into barrels. These tanks hold thousands upon thousands of litres of wine, each treated a different way to produce a different wine.

We were then taken to the cellar & saw the ancient stone tanks that held their wine in the nineteenth century. These are all out of commission now but we felt we were walking through time as we stepped through the dark and cold, echoey corridors.

Depending on the wine, after the transfer from the tanks, it will be stored in barrels for 6 to 18 months. But these aren't just any barrels. The wine maker chooses either French oak or American oak barrels and often a mixture of the two as both give different flavours to the wine due to their very different wood structure. American oak has very tiny pores whereas French oak has much larger pores therefore giving a very different 'oaky' flavour to the wine.

But it doesn't end there! The wood is then 'toasted' (burned) to close up most of the pores and the wine maker will choose a light toast, medium toast or dark 'intense' toast depending on his preference as each 'toast' will add a different flavour to the wine. Many wines that have a 'smoky' flavour or taste will often come from a dark toasted barrel.

The following year the wine maker recycles the barrels and will re use them up to 4 times each depending on what flavours he wants to bring into next year's wine. Each step is carefully documented so the process can be exactly replicated each new year.

There are so many combinations that go into making these exquisite wines, it really did blow our minds.

E.g:

Type of oak (French, American or a mixture). If a mixture, which percentage of each?

Level of toasting?

Length of time to keep the wine in the barrel?

Had the barrel been used before? If so, which wine was in it previously and what flavour will that add?

From the barrel the wines are bottled and left in the bottle, in the dark, for the exact same time as the barrel before being released for sale. 6 months in the barrel = 6 months in the bottle. 18 months in the barrel = 18 months in the bottle etc.

Only when the wine maker is 100% happy that the wine is perfect will it be released for sale.

This truly was an eye opening and educational tour and it was followed by a tasting of three of their most popular wines which just seemed to taste so much better as we knew how it had been made!

We were then taken through to the restaurant for our lunch, accompanied by wine of course!

It was a wonderful lunch and we were seriously tempted to forget the other 2 wineries as we'd had such an amazing time but decided to push on. Again, it was a tough job but we knew we could do it ;-)

Next stop was Alta Vista winery which was set in beautiful gardens, very nearby to the previous vineyard.

Although the winery was impressive, it was much more modern and we'd been spoilt previously so didn't spend too long there and went on to the third and last winery of the day.

Carmello Patti runs a wine label and winery in his own name and has done so for many decades.

His wine is all hand made and a complete contrast to the other 2 wineries we'd visited.

We were introduced to Carmello who seemed thrilled that we'd come to visit and immediately started pouring us generous glasses of his 2004 specialty wine followed by a few others. 

Although he didn't speak a word of English he was so friendly and with a bit of help from the driver, we understood each other perfectly.

Lauren with Carmello, proudly holding a t shirt with his face on bought by one of his biggest fans! "The Code of Wine" is written on the shirt which was really interesting to Lauren whose family have a book and a musical written about them called "The Code of Love".

Lauren signed Carmello's visitor's book

We loved Carmello and decided to support him by buying a bottle of his sparkling wine which we consumed in the courtyard of our hotel joined by Walter, one of our amazing hotel receptionists.

Our time in Mendoza drawing to an end we, yet again, retired to our bedroom smiling like Cheshire cats and wondering if we could possibly be any more blessed.