The Catena Group, MENDOZA Nicolas Catena and his daughter, Laura, head up this dynamic company that has had a major role in the modernisation of the Argentinean wine industry. This is a duo that believes passionately in ‘terroir’ and, since 1983, Catena has been carrying out extensive research into the micro climates of the Mendoza region. The Libertad range are much more than just entry-point wines and it would be very difficult to find wines of this quality at these prices from elsewhere. The Alamos wines are distinctly fruit-driven with moderate oak-ageing, whilst the Catena Malbec is a superb blend from their Angelica, Uxmal and Altamira vineyards. It is a prodigious wine with great complexity and is unfiltered.
Altos las Hormigas, MENDOZA Altos las Hormigas was created by Tuscan wine-maker, Alberto Antonini, and is well-known for its range of Malbecs but the new Bonarda Colonia las Liebres particularly impressed us with its exuberant and deep-coloured style, exuding blackberry and blueberry fruit combined with an excellent texture and finish.
Bodegas Nieto Senetiner, LUJÁN DE CUYO, MENDOZA This well-known bodega was founded by Italian immigrants in 1888 and was based around the town of Carrodilla in Mendoza. The estate has passed through a number of hands over the past hundred odd years but, in 1998, the hugely wealthy Perez Companc family purchased the winery and vineyards from Nieto Senetiner. Currently, they own over 300 hectares of their own vineyards in Mendoza and have somewhat of a reputation of maintaining very high standards in both the winery and vineyards, believing in producing hand-crafted wines rather than mass produced examples from bought-in grapes. We believe that this bodega's particular strength is their high-altitude grown white varietals, grown at 800 metres in the Carrodilla region. The Torrontes is everything one expects from this aromatic variety, being marginally off-dry with crunchy, fresh grapey flavours and a sensible balancing acidity. The Chardonnay/ Viognier is a clever blend where the white fruit of the Viognier dominates, combined with a summertime, floral bouquet and crisp, Chardonnay-driven fruit on the palate.
Bodegas Weinert, LUJÁN DE CUYO, MENDOZA The red wines of Bodegas Weinert have long been admired for being amongst some of the finest examples of Argentinean wine-making. This is a strongly traditional bodega, eschewing the use of overt quantities of new oak barrels. With their vineyard stock now reaching serious maturity, the two wines that we list, Carascal (50% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot) and Malbec are splendid companions to full-flavoured meat dishes. The approachable Carascal has a distinctive cedarwood and red-berry bouquet and very good spice-tinged fruit and the Malbec has a very clearly defined velvety texture, a nose that is somewhat reminiscent of St. Emilion and an opulent, peppery fruit with fine-grained tannins.
Domino del Plata, MENDOZA Susana Balbo and her viticulturist partner, Pedro Marchevsky, have combined their respective skills and experience at Dominio del Plata where they are totally in charge, concentrating on planting, varietal selection, water management and canopy ‘conduction’. The project was specially designed so that the vineyards do not harm the natural resources and, at the same time, preserves the environment. We have been keen supporters of Susana’s excellent Anubis Malbec for many years; it is a big,, powerful wine with a deep, almost opaque dark purple colour. The nose exudes brambly, chocolate overtones whilst on the palate it is full of ripe, plummy and spicy fruit. It offers excellent value for money.
Andean Wineries, MENDOZA When Italian and Spanish immigrants settled Mendoza in the 19th century, they immediately saw the enormous potential of this land at the foot of the Andes Mountains.
In 1865, Frenchman Aimè Pouget imported and planted in Mendoza the first Malbec vines from France. Mendoza turned out to be an ideal terroir for Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition they were not affected by Phylloxera that destroyed most of the vines in France in the late 19th century. Mendoza now has the oldest, highest quality stocks of un un-grafted Malbec vines in the world.
The seeds of Antis Wines date back three generations when the current owners' families planted their first vines, now 90 years old and the source of Antis's wines.
The winery is located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Rodeo del Medio, at the heart of the Maipú district in Mendoza. From the tasting room one enjoys a magnificent panoramic view of some of the highest mountains in South America. Around the winery there are 40 acres of vineyards which are the source of some of the estate's wines.
In 2002, Antis built a new winemaking facility. The building is of architectural interest and was designed with functional and aesthetic principles in mind. It has a capacity of 300,000 liters in refrigerated stainless steel fermentation tanks; a cellar housing French oak barrels and a temperature controlled bottle storage area. The vinification equipment was imported from Italy and uses the latest technology designed to handle the fruit without bruising it to prevent oxidation.
The Andes mountains are central to the identity of the winery and the character of Antis's wines. Their philosophy is centered on achieving wines that speak of the land where they are born and crafted. They believe that their task is to recreate and enhance the potential contained in the grapes, using state-of-the-art knowledge, the best materials and latest technology.
[ Email us ] 