AnuvaBlog

Sommeliers come in all shapes and sizes. Most sommeliers at restaurants will have been in charge or at least had a major part of the creation of the wine list and therefore know that list intimately. But this also means that they will tend to be tied to the wine they have put on their list. Understandable since they are trying to sell you wine for your dinner.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, though, this means that all of the wine will be from Argentina. Not unusual in a protectionist country. In Argentina, foreign wine hardly exists except for at the most posh of restaurants (like 3) and wine shops (literally 3). A sommelier in Argentina, therefore, and especially in Buenos Aires, will be recommending Argentine wine. Funny, that’s what I recommend.

But since wine is all about taste its good to know what you like and how to communicate that idea to the sommelier. If you like fruit forward, young malbecs, then about 50% of all wines made in Argentina will appeal to you. If you like more herbaceous, tannic wines, and actually know what that means, then a sommelier should have no trouble picking one from his list.

Why not start with the basics, though, which is probably what the sommelier will do anyway? Red or white, price range, regional preference, varietal preference. After narrowing this down then, the sommelier will usually try to push you into a slightly higher price range since s/he will work inevitably on commission.

A sommelier must  always ask what you are eating because  food combining is an art, and the sommelier should have designed his/her list around the food at the restaurant.

The same goes for buying at a wine shop. Narrow the choice of wine down by region, price, varietal, characteristics and food combining and you’re good to go.

The wondrous and lovely varietal known as Tannat originated, of course, in France. I say wondrous and lovely because Tannat can be all that, but Tannat can also be a most bitter enemy. A poorly made Tannat, or simply one that has not been left to age for a bit, will attack your mouth with a vengeance, stripping it of all its natural saliva and lubricants, and leaving you unable to utter the word “water”. The most naturally tannic varietal of them all requires you to prepare yourself…

A nice Tannat, though, can truly inspire.

A winemaker like Carlos Muñoz of Las Perdices will take a challenge like Tannat and turn it into a game. I tasted no less than 5 Tannats from the tank not too long ago, and as I attempted to say the word “water”,  I felt privileged to have tasted such unique wines. Carlos uses Tannat to blend and this point but I have begged him to do a pure varietal. A nice aged one that has calmed down and evolved some.

I have tried several other Tannats, 2 of which are candidates at the moment for our next export of wine from Argentina. Both have gone through significant time in oak allowing the berry flavors and aromas to rise to the surface.

Gorgeous to look at, the Argentines jokingly call Tannat “Petroleo”, as its super dark, super concentrated color coats the sides of your glass as you swish it around, praying for it to be kind to you. As it opens, beautiful summer raspberries greet the nose. An obscene mouthful of strawberries and blackberries comes next, with more elegant and round tannins if the wine has been aged properly.

I can’t wait to share one with you.

My first question when I approach a winery to sample their wine for potential purchase is “Do you have a blend?” The tendency to make 100% varietals is all too common especially in the new world. It can actually be quite amusing to see some of these wineries lists of wines they make–extensive, well marketed, different price points–to find that they do not have a single blend or sometimes even bi-varietal.

Take this classic example: a winery will have their varietal chardonnay, viognier, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, syrah, malbec, merlot and cabernet. Not only that but they will have what they do best–say syrah, cabernet and malbec–in reserve and grand reserve levels as well. Theoretically this means higher quality grapes were used but usually just means that more oak was used.  It seems obvious to me that a blend would be a natural, normal, logical progression of such an incredible number of varietals under one roof.

But alas, many wineries have fallen prey to marketing and lack of interest….

It seems to me that the biggest reason that wineries focus on varietals is because of sales and marketing. It is easier for consumers to understand what a merlot is as opposed to a Don Juan or a Cuatro Primos. That would involve turning around the bottle and reading the label to find out what is in it, if the varietals used are even listed. Not only that but it would involve a decision making process where, instead of comparing one varietal wine to the same varietal–ostensibly a direct comparison–one has to compare the types of wine involved as well. All of a sudden the decision making process just got a lot harder. Wineries at times worry about confusing the consumer and therefore stay away from blending.

But what worries me is that blends are simply gorgeous and are what truly represent a winemaker’s talent. It takes a deep knowledge of the characteristics of one’s wine to create a better blended wine than the varietals with which one started. Not to mentions countless hours of experimentation.

So hats off to the winemakers who have faith that the final consumer will want to take that leap and try that complex blend that keeps on giving.

Oh my, what a nightmare.

Let’s begin with an overview. The wine business in the U.S. is extremely over-regulated and therefore complicated. You have sets of overlapping and interlocking laws on both the state and federal levels that govern the alcohol trade.

Specifically, when it comes to direct to consumer shipping one must be aware of three tier laws, primary source laws and label registrations. These all basically are left over from the post-prohibition era, when the government and the people were afraid of mafia or centralized control over this business. Thus, they set up what are now these obsolete laws in order to divide power and provide checks and balances. This created what is in essence, the 3-tier system of producer/importer then wholesaler/distributor then retailer. Each level in each state requires a different license. Each state may or may not have a “reciprocal” agreement with other states to honor certain licenses such as a direct shipping license.

Take this ludicrous example: our import department imports gorgeous, unique, micro-production Anuva Vino to California. We have a client in Texas who would like to become a member. Currently, the law says that with our direct shipping license in CA, we are allowed to ship to this person. However, there is a major catch: the wine has to be bought from a TX distributor. Does that make any sense? I import the wine, then sell it to a distributor, then I have to buy it back from him so that I can ship it?

So that’s a brief of how this biz works. I look forward to comments should anyone like to hear more about how it works on the US side or Argentine side.

For the last several years the Hyatt hotel in Mendoza has put on the Hyatt Wine Awards event in July in order to facilitate the export and production of high end wines from Argentina. We are please to say that as a minimum 4 of our wines won  gold or silver medals: Reserva Cavagnaro Malbec, Sin Fin Malbec, Beviam Syrah, and Las Perdices Don Juan.

This is very exciting for us considering that our members are the only people that are getting these wines outside of Argentina.

Would it be presumptive to assume that our PR department will do a press release about this recent, er, press? Surely not.

I tried explain what a Hallmark Holiday was to the Argentines but they insisted that I was wrong about el Dia del Amigo. I assumed that, like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, which are virtually equivalent down here (i.e. everyone gets together for dinner and gives all the Moms or Dads gifts) to what they are in the US, el Dia del Amigo–ostensibly “Friend’s Day”–is not.

People pretty much get together and drink wine. And the tendency is for couples to actually split from their significant others to go out on their own with friends. How sophisticated!

So what wine are we drinking tonight? I’m bringing a new wine that may be in Anuva’s club soon. It’s called Viña el Cerno Syrah. Being a 1999, one can feel how this wine must have evolved over the last 9 years, sculpting and honing its rich, silky smooth body in the bottle. Inspiring wafts of the nose brings hints of ripe black cherry and dried Italian herbs. On the palate, this micro-production prodigy persists nicely.

Look for it before the end of the year.

How could we promote Argentine wine without a beautiful, exotic Argentine girl at our side. Thankfully, we have Lourdes. Now Lourdes, besides being my fiancée, also organizes basically every aspect of the business. If she were a wine she would be extremely well structured. I would equate her to the sumptuous Mudai Pinot Noir since it is the lightest of our reds, like Lourdes. Mudai can also be seen as demonstrative of Lourdes in its earthiness. Lourdes is very down to earth and realistic. Mudai also needs a few minutes to open up, Lourdes can be shy. Mudai has concentrated red fruit flavors and a soft, velvety body…. Read into this as you will.

Sorry for the hiatus, but I just got back from researching the wine market on the ground in China. What an immensely populated country of non-wine drinkers. The two most commonly seen wines over there are two domestic labels, aptly called Great Wall and Dynasty respectively, whose quality levels are around that of the Jamaican bobsled team.

What is tremendously exciting, though, is that the Chinese are developing quite a taste for premium wine due to the fact that the growth of their consumer class is nearly audible. Wine lists are growing at high end restaurants and starting to appear in chain restaurants and hotels as well. A couple of wine bars have developed as well as some high end wine shops.

Virtually no quality wine from Argentina exists, however, as the majority of wine found over there in the supermarket and elsewhere comes from the old world followed by lots of imports from Australia and New Zealand.

Can’t wait to show the People some good malbec!