By Gary Hewitt, Sommelier( ISG, CMS), CSW

Zorzal Wines, Mendoza

Zorzal Wines, named for an industrious mountain songbird, is a collaboration of Argentine owner-operators and Calgary-based Canadian investors with an avowed“ passion for wine and fun.” Zorzal’ s brand new gravityflow winery is the highest in the high-altitude Uco Valley, south of the city of Mendoza and enticingly close to the Andes Mountains. Although new estate vineyards have yet to come into production, Zorzal’ s young winemaker Juan Pablo Michelini, with guidance from his consultant brother, Matias, has crafted superb wines from locally purchased high-altitude grapes.

Zorzal is well regarded for a series of Malbecs, including the 2008 Climax, winner of the trophy for best Malbec in Argentina over US $ 50. Zorzal also produces fresh, lively Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. Their ripe, refreshing Chardonnay, with only a kiss of fine oak, was the wine that first caught our attention and inspired us to bring Zorzal home to Manitoba.

Bodega Pulenta Estate, Mendoza

With their first child in tow, Angelo Pulenta and Palma Spinsati arrived in Argentina from Italy in 1902, looking for“ the America.” Today, after two generations of hard work, grandsons Eduardo and Hugo run a modern family winery in the Agrelo subregion of Mendoza. The winery’ s architectural restraint echoes sincere environmental respect and foreshadows the elegant, tautly structured wines that are vivid expressions of a range of notable French grape varieties.

Despite the French heritage of the grapes, La Flor Malbec, aged 6 months in French oak barrels, is reminiscent of a lively Tuscan red with bright fruit and a juicy finish, making it a perfect food partner. At the next level, the I Malbec not only ages but also ferments in French oak barrels. The result is a mouth-filling wine with firm tannins framing intense, lively fruit and offering excellent cellaring potential. This pair of impeccably made wines built on pure Malbec flavours provides an excellent example of a winemaker’ s touch creating different styles.

Bodega Noemia, Patagonia

Bodega Noemia, in the southern region of Rio Negro, is a pioneering project. After a colourful life, including a stint in Copenhagen’ s Freetown Christiania, the free-spirited pair of Countess Noemi Cinzano of the Argiano estate in Montalcino and her Dutch husband, winemaker Hans Vinding-Diers, now make Patagonia their home.

Hans turned a stint as a consultant for the local Humberto Canale winery( from 1998 to 2002) into an opportunity to discover some of Argentina’ s historical old-vine vineyards. Now, he loves to show off the vitality of his young biodynamic vineyards(“ touch the vines, feel their life!”) at their wonderful remote new winery. Noemia wines are entirely hand-made from harvest to fermentation and finishing: there are no pumps in the winery and wines are gravity-filled into bottles without filtration. The 2008 A Lisa is an intense, silky blend of mostly Malbec with a little Merlot and soupçon of Petit Verdot.

�

www. banvilleandjones. com 23