07
Oct
2009
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
There’s a mighty push by Wines Australian these days as the Aussies try to claw their way back to the top of the heap in the wine world. This tasting was held in the back room of Brasaii restaurant on King Street West and although I rarely speak of the food at events likes this I have to tell you that the shrimp wrapped in kadifi pastry (a Greek pastry that’s thin, spindly and phyllo-like) was out of this world delicious. Okay, now that I have that off my mind it’s back to the wine.
The wines featured today are the ones that will appear in Vintages (or exclusively on-line) between now and February 2010 – I’ll break ‘em down here by release month – wines rating 4.5 to 5 stars below, with mini-reviews of 4-star wines further down the page – aw heck, just read ‘em all.
October 2010 … (see the wines you should be buying)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
07
Oct
2009
- Details
-
Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
To see previous visit of Catena click here.
In 1902 Nicola Catena planted his first vineyard on 4 hectares in Argentina; today his heirs own 500 hectares of estate vines on 5 vineyards throughout Argentina, have made long term deals with countless other growers, and their name stands at the top of all Argentinean wineries. Today we met with the personable and gregarious Laura Catena, whose father Nicolas has just been named Decanter Magazine’s 2009 Man of the Year. She took us on a tasting tour of Catena’s high-end wines and explained the reason for Catena-Zapata’s success: high altitudes and a pioneering spirit.
According to Laura, most Argentinean wineries aren’t interested in single vineyard production, or even showing the concept of “terroir” (sense of place) in their wine; but, she argues, if any country should be showing off it’s terroir it’s Argentina, and that is due to the uniqueness of the ‘terroir’: “We should be more Terroir-ists than they are in Burgundy,” she claims, “it’s because of our soils that we should be concentrating more on showing off our terroir.” She explains about the make up of Argentine soil vs. that in France (Bordeaux and Burgundy). Because it rains so much in these French locales the soils have a way of settling and layering: sand on one level, then lime, clay, and rock; but in Argentina they have far less rain, so the soils remain mixed together – they have the same components, they just have a different pattern and no layered stucture.
Tasting Terroir … (read about the difference 400 meters makes)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
