Category: Interviews

Interviews with different personalities

Interview: Daniel Pi

Never more comfortable than when breaking the winemaking mould, the Peñaflor veteran is a central figure in the story of Argentina’s wine industry, as Amanda Barnes reveals in this interview with Daniel Pi…

Published in Decanter magazine, October 2018

Overseeing the production of more than 200 million litres of wine each year, Daniel Pi doesn’t have time for much else. ‘I’m lucky I love what I do!’ he says sincerely, and you get the impression that he really does love his job. Pi may be softly spoken but, as director of winemaking for Grupo Peñaflor, he is at the helm of one of the biggest wine producers in the world and has been instrumental in building its success. His own success is down to decades of hard graft and determination – but Pi also has an intrepid spirit that’s taken him beyond the ordinary.

Born into a middle-class family, Pi was the first to attend university, choosing to study architecture. Disillusioned with the creative limits that restrain architects in Mendoza – a region known for its earthquakes – he soon switched to winemaking. Graduating five years later, Pi was ready to start making wine – but the industry wasn’t quite ready for him.‘I finished my degree and was immediately unemployed,’ he recalls sardonically. ‘There was an overproduction crisis. White wines were fashionable and everyone was overcropping, prices were low and the quality wasn’t good. Let’s say it was “complicated”…’

Read the full article and interview with Daniel Pi on Decanter.com

You can view a PDF version here: Interview Daniel Pi.

September 17, 2018
Santa Rita – A Clean Sweep: Producer Profile, Decanter Magazine 2018

CHANGE IS AFOOT in Alto Jahuel. First planted in 1850, the roots of Santa Rita’s historic 600ha wine estate run deep. This is a site of both viticultural heritage and cultural importance for Chile: it was once a hideout for 120 soldiers during the independence wars, and it was in this same vineyard that Carmenère was first identified, hidden away between Merlot vines, in 1994. Alto Jahuel is part of Chile’s vinous patrimony and it is the main artery for Santa Rita’s 100 million-litre production – including its Carmen brand and Casa Real, one of Chile’s foremost icon wines.

Long though its history may be, there is a seismic shift underway in Santa Rita. Cecilia Torres, winemaker for Casa Real since its inception in 1989, stepped down in 2017, handing the reins to Sebastian Labbé (who joined Viña Carmen in 2005). Labbé is also taking over Santa Rita’s premium wines from Andrés Ilabaca, who after 20 years is now downscaling to consultant winemaker. There may be new faces in the barrel room, but the big change is going on in the vineyards.

See full article in Decanter Magazine, February 2018

January 25, 2018
Women in Wine: Argentina

Twenty years ago, it was hard-won to find a female working in the wine industry in Argentina, let alone a female winemaker. But today women are taking their place in the sector and this year’s Argentina Wine Awards boasted an all-female tasting panel, bringing to light the role that many of the fairer sex now play in the industry. This feature for The Drinks Business looks at some of the female trailblazers of the industry, and also some of the up-and-coming young female winemakers of Argentina.

1. Susana Balbo

Susana Balbo is unquestionably one of the most remarkable women in wine, not only in Argentina. Head winemaker and owner of Dominio del Plata, Balbo is at the top of her game, but reaching these heights as a woman was not easy. Hardships began early for young Balbo who had wanted to study Physics, but – due to the military dictatorship – had to pick a degree closer to home (which in Mendoza, is winemaking).

Even the early 80s, Balbo wasn’t the only female in the class – out of 33 classmates, 17 were women. She was however the only woman to graduate, making her the first female winemaker in South America. She puts the low completion rate down to having to take a late night bus (past the 10pm curfew), creating more vulnerability for women during the tyrannical military regime.

Life wasn’t easy as the first female in the profession. “I couldn’t get a job in Mendoza, I was rejected from many applications because I was a woman,” she confesses. It wasn’t until an opportunity arose in Salta, that she got her first job in a winery – partly because some of the hiring process was made by a headhunting firm in Paris, France.

Her move to Salta was indeed fateful…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

2. Laura Catena

One of the greatest spokespersons and ambassadors for Argentine wine abroad, Laura Catena splits her time between San Francisco where she is a doctor, and Mendoza where she works in her family winery, Catena Zapata. Author of Vino Argentino, Chair of IWSC in 2014, international guest speaker – Catena’s communications achievements are endless.

Although she might already be considered as reaching a par with her industrious father Nicolas Catena in terms of promoting Argentine wine, it is her work as a scientist that is most remarkable. When she started working at the winery in 1995, there were few women and convincing a largely male team that she – a young female graduate – knew better when it came to vineyard research, was a challenge…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

3. Gabriela Celeste

While female winemakers are growing in number, female wine consultants are still a very rare breed. After meeting the French consultant winemaker Michel Rolland while working in Trapiche in 1996, Celeste begin her international education in wine and is now the right hand of Rolland as his partner at their consultancy firm, EnoRolland. Though she works under the Rolland brand as a consultant, Celeste has made a name for herself in her own right…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

4. Andrea Marchiori

Having grown up running around her father’s vineyard in Lujan de Cuyo, Andrea Marchiori’s choice in the career was a natural one. Completing her winemaking degree as the only woman in the class, she headed to Sonoma in the US with her husband and fellow winemaker, Luis Barraud. There they met flying winemaker Paul Hobbs and while overseas began talks about a partnership back in her hometown of Mendoza. Now, with Hobbs and Barraud, Marchiori fronts a successful winery – Viña Cobos – where you can find some of Argentina’s most acclaimed, and most expensive, wines…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

5. Laura Principiano

Today Bodega Zuccardi is one of the most exciting investments in Argentina. A large family winery with young gun winemaker Sebastian Zuccardi at the head, it has brought forward innovations, finesse and has just opened a landmark new winery in the Uco Valley. Behind every great captain through, there is a great skipper. And the skipper of Zuccardi’s vessel is a woman – Laura Principiano. Plucked straight out of University to join Zuccardi in their experimentation lab…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

6. Andrea Mufatto

Coming into winemaking after having four children, Mufatto juggles motherhood with her growing career as the second winemaker for Zorzal and Head Winemaker for the family winery Gen del Alma. “Being a winemaker and a mother of 4 children is complicated! But winemaking is a lifestyle for us as a family, and with Gen del Alma we get to live our dreams and make these wines.”
Mufatto, like her brothers-in-law (winemakers Matias and Juan Pablo Michelini) and husband Gerardo Michelini, is a fan of a leaner, fresher style of wine with high acidity and more natural winemaking methods. Her wines focus heavily on playful co-fermentations, like for example Ji Ji Ji: a slightly madcap carbonic co-fermentation of Malbec and Pinot Noir…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

7. Valeria Antolin

Coming from a winemaking family, it wasn’t surprise to Antolín’s father (a renowned sparkling wine producer) that she wanted to study agronomy and winemaking. What might be somewhat surprising is that her female cousin and younger sister soon followed suit! After working in working in Viña Cobos, Antolín settled into a full time role in 2003 with her current employer, Piatelli, where she climbed her way to Head Winemaker for both their their Mendoza and Cafayate (Salta) wineries. Antolín has been significant in the development of the brand and in particular surprised many with her take on Torrontes…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

8. Paula Borgo

Head winemaker for Spanish-owned Septima, Paula Borgo is responsable for the wine and sparkling wine production of one of the bigger wineries in Mendoza. Her path in the industry also began through family: “My relationship with wine is due to my father, he is an agronomist that is very well connected to the sector,” says Borgo. “As a young girl, the countryside, the vineyards and wine, accompanied me through to my adolescence…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

9. Paula Gonzalez

One of the youngest female winemakers in the profession, 25-year-old Paula Gonzalez is second winemaker at Bodega Casarena in Lujan de Cuyo. Working under Head Winemaker Bernardo Bossi Bonilla, Gonzalez has played a hand in the development and launch of their latest DNA range and single vineyard range. While Malbec is still the flagship of the winery, it is a different variety that is the apple in Gonzalez’s eye: “Malbec is one of the most important varieties for us, but I think Cabernet Franc is one that is going to explode…

For the full article, you can view the PDF here.

10. Other Women in the Industry

“There are many families with daughters who want to work, and because family wineries and vineyards are such a big part of the industry it is inevitable that there will be more women working in every aspect of winemaking,” says Laura Catena, daughter of one of Argentina’s most renowned vignerons Nicolas Catena. Laura is, like many women in the industry, the new female offspring and offering in Argentine wine. Spot 10 on our list of women in wine is dedicated to the many women, and daughters, who are making the industry what it is today.

Female winemakers and agronomists like: Lorena Mulet (featured in last year’s 10 Winemakers to Watch, Cruzat), Carola Tizio (Vicentin), Soledad Vargas (La Anita), Estela Perinetti (LUCA), Silvia Corti (Argento), Romina Carparelli (Margot), Celia Lopez (Navaro Correas), Victoria Pons (Melipal), Pamela Alfonso (Altavista), and Victoria Prandina (Trivento) among others.

Of course for all the daughters moving into the industry as career women, the industry would never have developed to such an extent if it weren’t for the dedicated wives and mothers too. Many of whom have not only supported their husbands in a gruelling and time-consuming career, but raised a family that respect and admire their wine heritage.

Women also occupy some of the top sommelier and educator positions in Argentina, notably including Marina Beltrame (the first female sommelier in Argentina, and founder of Escuela Argentina de Sommelier) and Paz Levinson (currently Best Sommelier of the Americas).

Wine is no longer the realm of only men in Argentina, women are an increasingly integral part in the offices, the sales rooms, the restaurants, the laboratory, the winery, and the field.

By Amanda Barnes

Have women ‘feminised’ Malbec?

The appearance of more women on the winemaking scene might lead one to the rather simplistic conclusion that women are responsable for making Argentine Malbec more ‘feminine’. This would be doing a great disservice to all the male winemakers in Argentina, and also generalising about the winemaking style of female winemakers. As Argentina becomes more worldly in taste and experience, its Malbec has seen a great diversity of expressions in recent years: from more ‘masculine’, meaty Malbecs, to more ‘feminine’, ethereal and elegant Malbecs. Instead of gender, the different styles of Malbec are representative of different soils and micro-climates, changing winemaking tendencies, and the different personal tastes and experience of each maker. Often female winemakers make big and bold wines, and undoubtedly many male winemakers are the source of some of the most elegant Malbecs being produced in Argentina right now.

August 8, 2015
Interview with Robert Kamen, Kamen Estate

Interview for Wine-Searcher

You grew up in the city projects in the Bronx. How did you end up as a California winemaker?

I sold my first screenplay to Warner for $135,000 in 1979. I called my friend to celebrate and came down to Sonoma to meet him. We bought some wine, rolled some joints and came up here [to the vineyard]. There was no road or anything – we hiked for an hour and a half. I was an urban rat, I moaned the whole way until I got up here and saw that view. I sat here and said I could sit here forever, and he said: “You can, it’s for sale.”

The property’s stunning, but why vineyards?

I wanted to find the guy who grew the pot we smoked that day – it was the best in California – and so I found him, hiked up here with him, and he told me that his dream was to grow organic wine on hillsides. Nobody planted organic in 1979, especially in the mountains. In the last 30 years he [Phil Coturri] has become one of the best viticulturists in the world. He single-handedly brought organic viticulture to the mountains.

Your vineyards are biodynamic, why?

I was a child of the ’60s – lots of acid and flowers in my hair. I don’t care what anyone says, you can’t say using chemicals doesn’t go into the wine, or into [San Francisco] bay! I’m a firm believer in organic. Also my vegetables taste better. There’s great satisfaction in knowing that there’s no shit in what I eat.

Do you remember your first real taste of wine?

I spent a year in Afghanistan in 1971 with nomads doing research, and I wrote a novel, which got bought as a screenplay. I came home from Afghanistan, had some money and went to a wine store in New York. This man had changed his cigarette and food rations in World War II for Bordeaux wine and opened a wine shop [no longer in existence]. I gave him $1000 dollars and asked him to give me wine for a year. He gave me a case and told me to come back and tell him about it.

And what did you think?

At first I thought I was wasting my money – [it] was bitter and sour! I didn’t know what the fuss was about. Six months later I started appreciating what I was tasting; after a year I was hooked.

Is wine worth the fuss now?

It is now that I spent all that money in a vineyard! I’m enamored of wine … It’s still the thing that I look forward to at the end of the day. My cellar [more than 5000 bottles] is just for consumption.

What do you drink when you are not drinking your own Kamen Estate wines?

I don’t drink my own wines!

Why not?

…

Read the full interview on Wine-Searcher.com

February 10, 2015
10 winemakers to watch in Chile

For The Drinks Business, September 2014 edition
Read the full feature: Chilea Winemakers to Watch DB Sep 14

CHILE IS well-known for the concentration of its wine production, allowing the country to make consistent wine at competitive prices. But emerging is a new wave of boutique projects and new styles from the full length and breath of the country, resulting in original blends from little- known places.

The source of such novelty is a broad range of personalities, all of whom are driven by a desire to celebrate Chile’s vinous diversity. Over the following pages is a selection of 10 winemakers to watch, each chosen for their creative and critically-acclaimed approach.

MARCELO RETAMAL

Retamal is not new, but even after 20 years filling bottles he is still at the forefront of Chile’s wine innovations. Retamal became head winemaker of De Martino winery straight after university in 1996 and since then has made wines in over 350 vineyards in Chile, executed a 12 year terroir hunt across the span of the country, and made a huge U-turn in winemaking techniques that sparked a new trend in Chile.

“My problem started in 2007, because the owner and I didn’t like our wines”, he explains, commenting on how flying winemakers and international buyers had swayed Chile into a ripe and oaky style from the early noughties. “They were correct, with softness, high alcohol and lots of oak. But we wanted to create a wine with more drinkability, more fruit and not much oak or alcohol… so we started to work very strongly in this direction. More than new things, it is rediscovering the old ways.”

His return to “old ways” include using only native yeast, no added enzymes or tartaric acid, earlier harvests, aging in old Chilean earthenware jars, and zero new oak. It is not just his winemaking that sets him apart. His commitment to finding new viticulture areas and rediscovering others keeps him on the cusp…

Read more Chilea Winemakers to Watch DB Sep 14

ANDREA LEON

When a young winemaker is given their own personal line at a Michel Rolland winery, you know that they are doing something right. Andrea León has worked for Lapostolle (the family behind Grand Marnier) since 2004, winemaking with their high profile consultant Rolland in the biodynamic Apalta winery. However when her own personal style began to diverge from Rolland’s, Lapostolle gave León the freedom to develop her own range, which is now one of the most interesting collections in Chile. León produces an adventurous terroir series of seven Syrahs from around Chile, three Carmenères, and a few less common varieties including Muscat, Petit Verdot, Mourvedre, Carignan and Grenache.

Her exploration in Syrah is on trend with what is becoming one of Chile’s most promising varieties, and León shows the potential of this versatile variety from coastal and mountainous regions of Elqui, Casablanca, San Antonio, Cachapoal and Colchagua…

Read more Chilea Winemakers to Watch DB Sep 14

Photo by Matt Wilson

FRANÇOIS MASSOC

François Massoc came back to Chile to make a wine that showed Chile was more than just “good value”. After years studying in France and, curiously, winemaking in an Israeli monastery, Massoc returned home to make wine with his best friends: terroir expert Pedro Parra and Louis-Michel Liger-Belair of Vosne- Romanée fame. “We are not making money with Aristos. It is very expensive to produce, but we want to prove that in Chile you can make a world class wine,” he says. The fact that their top wine is a Chardonnay, the solitary white in Chile’s over £40 club, also proves that Chile is not just a one-trick Cabernet pony, although they do also make an acclaimed Cabernet and are also working on a Pinot Noir.

While the small Aristos project is redefining Chile’s premium category, other Massoc projects reinforce his game- changing status. At Calyptra, he makes one of the few high-end Sauvignon Blancs that doesn’t come from the coast, but instead from the Andes and aged in custom-made barrels (Massoc was a cooper before a winemaker). His other project with Parra, Clos des Fous – madmen’s vineyard – is another venture to show that Chile doesn’t need to play by the same old rules…

Read more Chilea Winemakers to Watch DB Sep 14

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September 11, 2014
Interview with Alberto Antonini

An interview with flying winemaker and international consultant, Alberto Antonini. Interviewed for Casa de Uco.

Why is the Uco Valley such an exciting wine region?

The location is by far the best valley in Mendoza. It’s where you get some very interesting calcareous spots and well drained soils, with warm days to ripen the fruit and cold nights to retain acidity – it’s the best for the freshness of the fruit. It’s very exciting now I understand the valley. Working with Pedro Parra (a terroir specialist) I understand why I like the characteristics there.

Do you remember making your own first wine?

My father was a teacher but I grew up on a farm, so I was making wine for fun as a hobby and had a passion for wine. The first wine I made was there.

The feeling? I was very happy. Since I was a child they were asking me what I wanted to be and I said I wanted to be a peasant and work on the land! Since I was 5 or 6 I said I wanted to be a redneck… If I wasn’t a winemaker I would like to grow apples.

I also have a lot of passion for music too but I don’t have talent to make a living from that!

I remember the first smell of the wines I tried, it was fascinating for a child. We made it in a very artisanal way. It was really a long time ago… it was 50 years ago…

How important is personal style in winemaking?

I don’t think it is… depending where the wines are from. If it’s a place that is very special you really do very little. I don’t want to affect the expression of the place. When people say less is more, I believe it is true.

To get to the point of doing less, you have to have the experience and confidence. I think it’s now I’m trying to let the grapes express their best. I don’t like it when people talk about a style of a winemaker, that’s when the wine has gone. The job is to do as little as possible.
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November 23, 2013
Q&A: Charlie Arturaola

Written for Wine-Searcher.com

Uruguayan Sommelier Charlie Arturaola was picked as Wine and Spirits Communicator of the Year in 2012 and stars in wine film El Camino del Vino among other TV appearances. He’s renowned for his bubbly personality and for having one of the top palates in the industry.

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I used to see a wine taster! I feel like the Robin Hood of wine these days. My mission until the day I die is that I need to bring better quality wine to young palates to open their senses and find out that you don’t need to spend $200 on a wine or buy a Grand Cru to say it’s a good wine. There’s a lot of good wine out there for $5 to $10.

Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

My childhood was hard. My wife tells me not to say that… but my mother died very young. I didn’t end up in an orphanage, my father was such a great person in terms of trying to keep us together that he sent me to my Aunt’s house, which was very rigid and regimented!

My sister did a PHD in Biology and I got really into fermentation and bacteria, I was always into photosynthesis as a kid. My grandmother was great in the garden. I would escape from my Aunt to go with my grandmother to plant the garden! We’d plant tomatoes, parsley, lemon trees… you name it!

I suffered for not having my mother, but it pays back because after hours of British school, I learnt my languages and French. I lived in a very multi-cultural neighbourhood in Uruguay.

It was very limited in terms of coming from working class in the very hard times of Uruguay in the 70s or 80s… The only thing you want to do is survive and so I went to Europe when I was 19 and that changed my life – it opened my eyes.

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May 17, 2013
Chile Through a New Lens: Photographer Matt Wilson

Written for WinesofChile.org

A world-renowned photographer is portraying Chile’s wine world in a new light. Former rock and skateboard photographer Matt Wilson might be the bad boy of wine photography, but his emotive pictures are certainly turning heads and gaining him accolades along the way.

The winner of the Born Digital Photography Wine Award 2012, has a refreshing approach to wine photography which moves away from staid barrel room portraits and tired landscape shots, instead focusing more on the characters of wine, the color of the landscapes and he frequently gets a winemaker to smash a bottle of wine against his head.

What’s the difference between photographing wine and rock ‘n’ roll? Not that much it turns out. “Wine is a lifestyle, and rock and roll is a lifestyle!” says Matt who also travelled the world with Hip Hop groups like The Roots, Mos Def and Method Man. Matt likes to photograph animated subjects though, and he does admit “musicians tend to be more animated than your average winemaker.”

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March 26, 2013
Q&A: Susana Balbo

Susana Balbo is one of the most influential winemakers in Argentina. She produces wine under her own label, Dominio del Plata, and is also a consultant to a number of wineries in other New World countries. Amanda Barnes interviews her.

Written for Wine-Searcher.com

What was your first memory in wine?

My first memory is not actually mine, it’s told by my parents. In my family, wine is in our roots and in our culture. In my childhood, the beverage for kids was water with a drop of wine to taint the color. So my parents gave me a full glass of water with a few drops of wine, and it seems I liked it as a 3-year-old. They say they looked to the side and I was taking the bottle to pour a full glass of wine!

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

I feel comfortable with myself, so I am seeing a woman in her 50s who has crossed a very long way and works a lot – many hours a day. To be an entrepreneur, you have to work hard. But I am very pleased, I am happy.

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December 20, 2012
Q&A: Marcelo Pelleriti

Marcelo Pelleriti is an Argentine winemaker and rock fan. He makes his own wine under an eponymous label, and is head winemaker for Bodega Monteviejo in Mendoza as well as Château La Violette and Château Le Gay in Pomerol, France.

Posted Thursday, 06-Sep-2012 on Wine-Searcher.com

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

That I should drink more wine to get younger. Not to excess, but I have to drink wine every year to maintain my youth.

What’s your first memory to do with wine?

When I was five I helped my grandfather pick grapes. He had a big house with vines all over the roof and he used me to pick the grapes in the smaller gaps. We’d put the grapes in big sacks, then crush them with our feet to make ‘vino patero.’

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September 29, 2012