Drink To Be Drinkable

I was invited to my first informal tasting here in Mendoza. I stumbled on the event through an interesting character I befriended from one of Domaine Mumm’s neighboring Bodegas, Tempus Alba. It turns out he is party to a group that meets every Friday for a wine potluck of sorts. There were no rules or guidelines other than, everybody brought a bottle or two, and they feasted on vino till the wee hours of the morning.

Anxious to see what this tasting group was all about I ventured into the suburb of Godoy Cruz with a bottle of organic Granacia in hand. We arrived at the residence of a lovely young lady who is gracious enough to host this weekly event. In the safety and privacy of her home, about 15 winos gorged guilt free on a wine smorgasbord. The Buffet included well known brands and small boutique labels, of all different colors and prices. The one commonality that strung these wines together was that were all proudly Argentinean or even better Mendocino.

The group was quite the keen wine drinking bunch half of which worked in the wine industry in one way or another. A little nervous to be the foreign newbie of the group I found my nerves quickly calmed by an approachable lot who were happy to find new comers who shared their passion. There were bodega tour guides, sommeliers, wine enthusiasts and even an oenologist in attendance, which was a rare and exciting occasion.

Like a master of ceremonies, the crowd sat silently and wide eyed around the almighty oenologist hanging on his every word. He spoke of fancy grape varietals, soil types, irrigation methods and topography. He compared the horizontal lay of the Mendocino land with the steeply terraced slopes of Chile. He even answered tedious questions like, “How does global warming affect wine quality from vintage to vintage?” Which he politely answered with a humble and honest, “I don’t know”.

He also, spoke of a crown jewel, Mendoza’s most powerful weapon, the boundless sun.
Mendoza is a vast desert that is scorched with relentless rays and flooded with water from the melting snow caps of the Andes. The intense sun caramelizes the deep rich sticky sugars that building beneath the grapes skins. An oasis of old and twisted vines blankets this region with miles of sweet fruit waiting to be captured in the bottles of wine makers’ province wide. Drink to be drinkable.

Flood irrigation is the most common way of feeding the vines of Mendoza. Silver streams of life running through the vineyards, in vein like canals dug in the dry dirt. Vineyard workers allow their vines to feast once a month to avoid watery fruit concentration of the grape’s flesh. The modern method used by the state-of-the-art, money-is-no-concern operations is drip irrigation. Water is collected in a cistern and pumped through rubber tubes affixed along the wires that trellis the vines. Each tube excretes droplets through little holes slowly leeching controlled amounts of water into the soil.

Vino Tinto or tinted wine is the elixir of choice in this region with hectares of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and other red varietals neatly trellised in rows as far as the eye can see. A back drop of impressive mountains stands against a blue sky as if a postcard was superimposed onto the horizon. The prized Malbec is the most common varital here and to no where else in the world. Originally a French blending grape not thought to be used on its own has surprised everybody. Like the Zinfandel of California rich, fruity and well balanced wines are being produced with a grape most thought not much of.

Needless to say the hang over was entirely worth it. I learnt that wine and the passion it embodies is a colorful and timeless event. Young, old, serious wine buff or there just to get drunk wine had brought us together. We all shared the intoxicating effects of famous beverage happily even through the suffering it brought us the next day. Drink wine to learn, love, laugh, cry and feel like crap the next day, but embrace its power to make you feel alive. Drink to be drinkable.