Eating a beautiful, rare, bife de chorizo at the Don Mario restaurant in Palmares, Mendoza with Hector and Pablo Durigutti and sampling their new Aguijon de Abeja Cabernet Sauvignon was quite a treat today. These two brothers are quite possibly the most important young winemakers in Mendoza right now. Both have backgrounds that are quite complimentary: Hector started at Alto Las Hormigas at the age of 15 and learned new world techniques and agriculture while Pablo started at La Rural, a massive winery now owned by Catena and learned more traditional oenology and viticultural practices.
Their Aguijon de Abeja Cabernet-Sauvignon was a luscious bouquet of raisin and blackberry jam and a mouthful of black currant, black cherry and hints of vanilla from the oak. Quite long for such a well priced wine.
Obviously we discussed wine, but of much more interest were the hopes and dreams of these young, Mendocino entrepreneurs, who can now see the promised land of where their family project that started with only 3000 bottles in 2002 has come to in less than 8 years. The Durigutti label is now nationally distributed as is Sur de los Andes, Ksana, Chakana and La Madrid which are all wines that the Durigutti brothers either make together or separately in many different wineries.
Anuva is excited because we are able to bring the fantastic Aguijon de Abeja line of wines to the U.S. which offers a FANTASTIC value. In this line are Malbec, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Bonarda, Torrontes and a Rose. We also hear that there is soon to be a Reserve Aguijon de Abeja line. The entire line displays a level of fruitiness without excess that is emblematic of the combination of their winemaking styles. New world fruit with old world elegance.
How long will we be left salivating for the reserve line? Hopefully not long.
Wine Tasting in Buenos Aires — San Telmo Loft | 26-Mar-10 at 4:24 pm | Permalink
[…] Bonarda (Aguijon de Abeja) – Yes! Yes! Yes! I loved this wine (and it wasn’t my favorite of the five wines we tasted). I really wanted Andy to try a great Bonarda. They aren’t easy to find here in Buenos Aires even in the specialty wine shops. But it’s a varietal I’ve always loved. Part of why I love Bonarda is that I like smoked meats and wild game (see my review of Les Anciens Combattants for a restaurant that serves food that goes sooooo well with Bonarda). Another part of why I love it is that it’s less common, so when you taste it you can’t help but say, “hmmm… what’s that? It’s really good.” Bonarda just hasn’t gone mainstream like Malbec. This Bonarda is from Mendoza and it’s made by two brothers whom you can learn more about on Anuva’s blog. […]