Doña Paula
I tasted at Doña Paula’s winery on its large Finca El Alto estate in Ugarteche (Luján de Cuyo), which features 400 of its 550 total hectares of vines. Doña Paula, currently the #7 exporter of wine in Argentina, makes only estate wines; they don’t buy fruit. This fast-moving firm, which was established in 1997, has rapidly assembled four more properties in mostly cooler areas around the Uco Valley, and their focus has shifted accordingly. For example, their Selección de Bodega Malbec was originally a single-vineyard wine from Luján de Cuyo. From 2018 through 2014 it was a blend of three vineyards, including two in Uco Valley, and with 2015 it’s once again a single-vineyard offering, but from their Finca Alluvia in Gualtallary, their highest property at an altitude of 1,350 meters. This site, featuring poor, stony, calcaire-rich soil, is historically Winkler II but can be Winkler III in warmer years.
The firm’s Finca Los Cerezos, located in Tupungato, is between Winkler III and IV, with very warm days and cool nights. Its sandy loam topsoil features a layer of clay underneath, which gives vibrancy to the fruit, according to viticulturist Martin Kaiser. This property is the source of Doña Paula’s particularly fresh, citrussy Sauvignon Blanc; Doña Paula also takes some Sauvignon Blanc from Finca Alluvia but although this is a cooler area, its stonier soils and warmer roots yield more tropical fruit flavors. Doña Paula’s Finca Los Indios is just south of Altamira, close to the mountains and classified as Winkler Region III.
Led by Kaiser and winemaker Marcos Fernandez, Doña Paula has been one of the leaders in Uco Valley in recent years, having mapped their soil by digging 1,200 pits and carrying out numerous microvinifications. And their single-parcel wines (i.e., Los Indios and Alluvia) have become some of Argentina’s most exciting new bottlings.
Fernandez admitted that 2016 was a difficult year, “except for low-yielding sites on stony soil, which could get their fruit sufficiently ripe.” It was the third of a trio of rainy years and also the coolest, Fernandez added. Many producers had to throw out a good percentage of the Cabernet Sauvignon they harvested after about April 10, but Doña Paula brought in their Cabernet earlier. Still, the winery sold off much of their fruit from lower altitudes, where cold conditions and substantial botrytis affected quality. Vintage 2017 benefited from very warm temperatures in January and February but production was modest as the cold weather while the buds were forming in 2015 affected fertility in 2017, according to Fernandez.
From Argentina’s Wines Enter the World Stage (Jul 2018) by Stephen Tanzer
2017 Sauvignon Blanc
Release Price: $19
Color: White
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2016 Red Wine Blue Edition
Release Price: $19
Color: Red
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2017 Malbec Estate
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Color: Red
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2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate
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Color: Red
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2016 Red Wine 1100
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Color: Red
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2016 Red Wine 1350
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Color: Red
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2015 Malbec Selección de Bodega
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Color: Red
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2014 Malbec Los Indios Parcel
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Color: Red
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2014 Malbec Alluvia Parcel Bush Vines
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Color: Red
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