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Marcelo Retamal and Amanda Barnes foot stomping wines at Viñedos de Alcohuaz in Elqui
Chile FeaturesVideosElqui VideosElqui

The art to Viñedos de Alcohuaz wines with Marcelo Retamal

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Ever wondered about the art behind foot-stomping wine? In this interview, winemaker Marcelo Retamal talks about the wines of Viñedos de Alcohuaz while foot-stomping grapes in their high altitude winery in Elqui.

 

 

To read more about Viñedos de Alcohuaz and other wineries in Chile, visit our Chile winery guide

 

Interview with Marcelo Retamal on the art behind the wines of Viñedos de Alcohuaz

We are in your Viñedos de Alcohuaz, at the end of harvest.

This is the last pick. It’s Cariñena, from the highest part of the vineyard, at 2,200 m.a.s.l

Why are we in a lagar?

If you are close to the sky, at a high altitude, the grapes’ skin is very thick and has a lot of colour and tannins. We decide to use lagar because the punch down with your foot is very soft. You crush the grapes only at the end of the lagar and therefore get less extraction.

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How to make sparkling wine in the traditional method with Cruzat winemaker Lorena Mulet
Luján de CuyoMendoza Videos

How to make traditional method sparkling wine

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Ever wanted to know how traditional method sparkling wine is made? Wine expert and Bodega Cruzat winemaker Lorena Mulet explains the secondary fermentation in bottle and how they produce their renowned sparkling wine in Mendoza, Argentina.

Don’t forget to activate the subtitles if your Spanish isn’t up to scratch!

 

To read more about Bodega Cruzat and other wineries in Mendoza, visit our Argentina winery guide

 

Interview with Lorena Mulet on making traditional method sparkling wine

Lorena, we are in the heart of Cruzat, where you do all the traditional method sparkling winemaking. Can you explain to us how the traditional method works, and why these bottles are here in riddling racks?

Yes, we are at the cellar of Cruzat winery We produce all of our sparkling wine following the traditional method… How do we do this? We first make the base wine in big tanks. And then we take this base wine, made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and put it in the wine bottles. Before putting it in the bottles, we prepare a liqueur de tirage which is a solution of the base wine, sugar, a clarifying agent and yeast.

We mix everything and put it in the bottle and then we bring the bottles to the cellar, where the second fermentation takes place. The yeast will transform the sugar we added into alcohol and carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is not lost because we put a crown cap, and it becomes the bubbles in the sparkling wine.

If you look at the bottle though it is cloudy with the yeast, and we need to remove the yeast before it reaches the consumer. How do we do this? We turn the bottle in order to allow the lees to remain in suspension and place it in riddling racks. They are first placed in a horizontal position and we add a mark on each bottle as a guide. And every day we rotate the bottle a quarter turn to each side. And the bottle is gradually placed upside down until the wine looks clear and the lees remain in the neck of the bottle.

Can you tell me about why there are so many bottles exploding around us?

There are bottles breaking right now because they are in the middle of the fermentation process… The second fermentation stage is quite dramatic!

And how do you remove the lees in the neck of the bottle?

The neck of the bottle is frozen and the crown cap is removed using a machine and the pressure within the bottle will help push out the frozen yeast plug.

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Argentina Wine GuideArgentina FeaturesVideosWine

The wine regions of San Rafael & Los Chacayes with Silvio Alberto, Bianchi

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Silvio Alberto is one of Mendoza’s most experienced winemakers and in this Terroir Talk he shares his experiences making wine in two terroirs in Mendoza, in that of San Rafael and also of Los Chacayes in the Uco Valley. As winemaker at Bodegas Bianchi he oversees winemaking and viticulture in both regions and in harvest time is regularly driving over 200 km a day to get between vineyards and wine regions.

In this interview and tasting with Amanda Barnes, they discuss the special characteristic of wines from San Rafael as well as the promising potential of Los Chacayes. Within the interview, they taste through the Bodegas Bianchi Particular Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, and also taste both icon wines of the winery: Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec and Gran Corte.

 

Terroir Talk interview with Silvio Alberto winemaker Bodegas Bianchi

 

Bodegas Bianchi wine tasting notes

Bodegas Bianchi tasting notes. Enzo Bianchi Gran Corte, Gran Malbec, Particular Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec. Interview with Silvio Alberto, winemaker

 

Bodegas Bianchi Particular Malbec

Coming from their San Rafael vineyard, this Malbec certainly is particular to the wine region. With a gentle pink peppercorn aroma, Silvio says this is characteristic of the region. It is also quite characteristically Malbec with soft, supple tannins and a rich plum note running through. An appealing wine which perfectly suits an asado.

Bodegas Bianchi Particular Cabernet Sauvignon

Another of the excellent value Particular line which this time shows the unique qualities of San Rafael’s Cabernet Sauvignon, which is altogether much more approachable and supple than Cabernet Sauvignon wines from further north in Mendoza. It lingers with spice notes and that trademark sweet pink peppercorn and has a silky but mouthfilling style.

Enzo Bianchi Gran Corte San Rafael

The original icon wine of Bodegas Bianchi, Enzo Bianchi is a spicy and complex blend that is usually Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec dominant from their vineyard top plots in San Rafael. It often used to contain Petit Verdot, but Silvio has always been a big fan of Cabernet Franc and in the most recent vintages you get some of the floral notes of Cabernet Franc blending in. A complex wine that needs time to decant.

Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec Los Chacayes

This is the new Enzo Bianchi to join the portfolio, coming from their relatively new vineyard in Los Chacayes. It’s a bold style of Malbec with rather firm tannins and strong presence on the palate which hints at the ageability of Malbec from this emerging sub-region. Bright and fresh black and red fruit on the nose are matched with some floral and graphite notes. This wine also deserves some decanting and will age well for a decade.

 

Find out more about Bianchi in our winery guide.
Learn more about the vineyards in this vineyard interview with Silvio Alberto.

 

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Interview with Felipe Muller, winemaker Vina Tabali of Limari
LimariChile FeaturesChile Wine GuideVideosWine

Limarí wine region: A terroir talk with Felipe Müller, winemaker at Viña Tabalí

by Amanda Barnes
written by Amanda Barnes

Viña Tabalí is the most renowned producer in the Limarí wine region of Northern Chile and winemaker Felipe Müller knows this exceptional terroir better than almost anyone. In this Terroir Talk, Amanda Barnes interviews Felipe all about the terroir of Limarí and what influences the different sub-regions of Limarí and makes it coastal wines so distinctive.

Felipe Müller discusses the differences between the river terraces of the main Limarí wine region compared to the limestone seabed of their famed Talinay vineyard. He also delves into the mountainous wine region of Río Hurtado on the boarder of Elqui and explains why the wines from this Andes wine region are totally different to the coastal wine regions of Limarí.

They also taste through four key wines for Viña Tabalí in a tale of different terroirs: their Talinay Chardonnay and their new Pai Pinot Noir from Talinay vineyard, and the Barranco Viognier and Roca Madre Malbec from Rio Hurtado. If you love Chilean wine, this is an interview not to miss.

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