FLC#7 - Leandro & Mauricio Boullade / Bocanada & Vinilo Wines
We were joined by father and son Boullade to discuss the history of Argentinian wine and what makes Gualtallary and the Uco Valley special.
Video transcript:
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Hello Mauricio & Leandro
There could be some new people here tonight who haven't been on a first look club meetup before. So the idea behind these is to keep things very simple. My name is Ronan. I'm one of the owners of a wine lab.
And this is just like a very basic conversation, we're going to talk with Leandro, and Mauricio, learn a bit about them, learn a bit about their wines.
I've already had some of my dinner. And if you have any questions at all, it doesn't matter what you want to ask, there should be a little chat box down on the bottom of your screen. And if you want to type a message there, you know, whatever you want to ask, feel free to ask it.
So yeah, guys, introduce yourselves. Tell us a bit about who you are.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Well, we are Leandro and Mauricio, father and son, it's a pleasure to be chatting with all of you.
Thank you for inviting us.
We're going to talk about two different projects today. Vinilo, which is the product that makes my father and bocce which is my project. And well we have a background of winemakers because my grandfather and my grandmother came from Benito Italy to Argentina to live here. And they started to make wine in the east of Mendoza
Used to have vineyards, and they produced wine in lots of litres. But a crisis came many years ago. And they sold everything they had. And well, my father returned to the wine business, but not in the winemaking part. But in the commercial part, with my father in part of many, many medium to big sites, wineries, managing the wineries, like think Alitalia's for sale wines and many others.
And in 2012, he decided to start his own project. And he started making Vinilo with only one line at a time. And well, we made wines from Ukiah Valley, which is one of many of the regions from Mendoza, especially 90% of our wines are in Topangato, which is a place in yucca valley that has different vineyards with different altitudes, different soil types, different climates.
It's very big. And we make wines from different parts of the country. And while the the idea is to make wines that talk about the place, and well, I don't know if you want to talk us that we talk about any particular
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
Yeah, like I've actually this is the first time I've needed it up a little bit more. And I've got some maps that we can share just to have a little bit of a look because, I think a lot of people in Ireland we don't know a lot about Argentina is a wine producing country. And I've you know, I've been doing a bit of reading and the perception maybe in Europe is that Argentina, we think of Argentina, say in Chile, and we think new world and we think a recent winemaking country, but I understand the history is a lot older than that, you know you had in fact, a bottle here. Mauricio makes of it's a great you can see they're called Creola and Creola that was planted by the Spanish missionaries right and like that 1500
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yes, the history is a bit about winemaking in South America and especially in Argentina with a priest that came with the colonisation of South America. So they were the first ones to bring the device to South America, especially for religious regions I mean to the mass, and that was the first step in winemaking.
The characteristic of Argentina, different from Chile and from another region is that we don't have, we are not most of the plantation or in the mountains not near the sea. So characteristic of Argentina that is an inland village there's an altitude so we are closer in the most planted area.
Mendoza province is 70% then San Juan is 20%. And then the rest of the north in the south is about 10% Plantation. And as you can see, we are closer to the Pacific Ocean. And it's about in a straight line about 250 kilometres on the Atlantic that is far from a 1000 kilometres, so most of the humidity and the rainfalls has to come from the Pacific Ocean, but we have the Andes Mountains in the middle that are very high.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
It's about this little white line, which really doesn't give you an insight into how big these mountains are. No.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yeah, the white line means that is the most altitude peak in every point, right. And then in the near Mendoza with that they Aconcagua mountains, that is the highest in the all America for north to south and east near 7000 metres above the sea level, closer to the Himalayas, very close altitude, so most of the humidity that came from the Pacific is facing the mountain as the snow.
So the climate is very dry, which is good. For the health of the plants. We don't have much humidity, we have soils that are poor in organic material, which means that the vines has a natural stress, and also the altitude because we have plantations, especially the Uka valley where we produce the wines from 900 metres above the sea level to 1500 metres above the sea level. So it's very high altitude.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
It's huge. I think, for context in Ireland. I think our highest mountain someone will probably correct me on our writing saying it's about 1000 metres or 1100 metres. You know, your volumes are 500 metres higher than that.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
You are in a very high altitude but you don't understand well, because you look at the mountainside, you see Tiger mountain, it's like we're in the slot of the andis. And this area is relatively new because in the past, as I explained to you, Mendoza climates are very dry, it's continental. So the plantations were near the rivers. And there were a lot of systems invented by the local native people. So you can only plant near the river. So when the drip system and the will start in the end of the 90s we start planting in the highest part of the Andes, Do we also have an IP system so they got a three seater?
This one is more mineral once and because the altitude we have a gap between the temperatures, day and night, very high, sometimes 15 to 20 degrees. So you've got maybe 30 degrees in the summertime, but during the night, it's about 10 degrees, so it's very, very cold compared to the day.
So that is very good for the maturity of the grapes. Which is very slow. And then that gives a special flavour and my mouth thinks of the skin of the grapes, that helps a lot to obtain a good course and good intensity in the wines.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
It's something you see in a lot of wine growing regions around the world you think of say in central Spain, or North Central Spain, Rio Ribera del Duero. You think of maybe Tuscany regions like this, where you have those high temperatures in the day, that cooling influence at nighttime and you find that it's something we see a lot in your wines as well as you see very elegant aromas.
I think it's important for people to understand if you have hot temperatures during the day and it doesn't cool down that the vines they lose, they lose acidity quicker, which means you lose freshness, you lose aroma very quickly.
And it's something I put up this slide here because, again, when I say we don't know a lot about Argentina, in Europe, we think of Argentina and sometimes on a label we see Mendoza, Mendoza is a large province. But with incitement. Also we have the Ukah Valley and am I right in saying you guys are well quatlarie.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yeah, yeah, we are. Here you can see there, that is talking about, and the things that my father was talking about recently. On the first, first song primera Sona, due to the climate change, things are changing, because the rising high gas temperatures during the day are much higher than many years before. So as you were saying, now they are changing the time taken to harvest the time to make wine.
So, most of the high quality wines are now from the highest areas from agrella. That is 100,000 metres to a Yuko Valley. So, the lowest quality wines are still from the eastern Mendoza, near Mendoza city, which is about 700 metres above sea level.
But some of wine producers like like our projects, and small producers are trying to change the style by harvesting earlier and not losing many, many grades and many, many great wines that we're making a grapes from from the first Sona from previous so climate is changing a little bit the the winemaking and the grapes that the winemakers select to do the ones I said earlier.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
So you said earlier about your, your grandparents or your great grandparents coming from the Veneto in Italy. And there was a huge you know, we said earlier about Spanish missionaries planting grapes and from what I understand when a lot of the Spanish Italian and French migrants arrived in the 1800s. That's really where the wine industry took off.
And, you know, that's I believe that, you know, French migrants brought French varieties like Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc. Bonarda is a huge grape. Maybe the second plant that most planted grapes in Argentina that came from Italian immigrants obviously had a huge impact on the landscape. I read somewhere I think that 60% of Argentines of Italian heritage, just give information to me.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
They get different weights from European people to Argentina at different times.
Our family came from Benito in 1896. And they used to be wine growers in Benetton so what happened in the past when they arrived at the port?
They say, what do you do in Europe? I used to make wine Okay, go to Mendoza. So that's why most in Mendoza province are from a lot of Italian heritage and also a Spanish in it, we both have a Italian passport. So we are Argentine and Italian now, because the family Yeah. And also what happiness as you say, most of the people from different places, bring other varieties of grapes.
And then Argentina has a lot of Malbec or got a call it in South France, a burrito planted. And what can happen is when they also in the 18th century, a 19th century sorry, it can be phylloxera in Europe, and the field achill most of the plant planted surface of Cote in France, and we don't have phylloxera in Argentina. So we became the reserve of the Malbec or got around the world. And then when they planted with the new and resisting roots in Europe, they didn't want much of a quarter of Malbec. So because of that, we Argentina is the most plant on the surface of Malbec around the world.
And also, we are planting a lot of Cabernet Franc now, which is becoming really good in Argentina. We also have a lot of bonarda Cabernet Sauvignon, a 10 tranio. a mullet, not much. But we also have really good merlot. My merlot needs a marketing manager, because he said amazing grapes, but nobody, like nobody.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
Ever since that movie sideways. And it's funny. This is our seventh first law club and this has come up almost every time but most winemakers love the grape but they're like nobody wants it. It's not easy, you know. And the creola you make is it really interests me because we work with a winery in Tenerife, in the Canaries, who makes a list on aggro, which is a relation of which is also known as mission or Paice in California, in Mexico, and we import emission grape from packs in, in California.
And it's one of those forgotten grapes. I think that's, you know, maybe what phylloxera was wiped out in Europe. That has been, it's a heritage grape. It's an old, old grape, that is part of the human history of Europe and the Americas. And almost everything I've tasted has been superb. Can you tell me a bit about the grape? And what's what's different about it?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yeah, well, in Argentina, many years ago, they were no different differentiate differentials are naming of the different types of rate, they were red wine or white wine, say, they would call it the, they call it the table wine, but they were not scripted or information or differentiation about the different types of grapes.
And well, creola was one of the many grapes that took part of, of the making of that red table wine. And with the with the with the starting of the naming, and the different types of grapes,they create criteria was used to make the wineries at the time make millions of litres of wine, and the industry in Argentina change from millions of litres and consumed per capita of wanting to very, very low consumption of wine.
So all of the wines changed, they introduced new kinds of grapes. So as some of the some of the grapes as Creola, as, for example, in the white grapes, and Semyon, we're kind of forgotten because they were used, were harvested by millions of kilogrammes to make millions of litres of wine and they change it to make less less wine, but with more quality and make the differentiation of the of the types of grapes.
But, some years ago, like 10 to 15 years ago, there were some currents to get again at the Semyon as, as 100% various online, and also the creola.
They into into it's like the national Arabic query investigation centre here in Argentina. And they were making an investigation like 10 years ago about the different types of Creola because Creola, our wines from criada, big creola or Korea like Romney, but they are many more types of that great. So they are making a huge investigation.Because also they are like clones and with the grapes that the Europeans took to Argentina with many grapes that took place here or were born here.
So Rosa is having combat, they are investigating a lot. And well , almost 30 to 40 producers making high quality creola wines now. I think that it has a lot of potential because it's very easy, easy wine to drink. It has very nice fruit, it's in their tank, and most of the tannins are very nice. So it's a wine for all of the moments as we like to say but yeah, they are making hard work to put criada back again because people all around the world were known for Malbec. But they are trying to position another type of grape.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab
I used that word earlier, its heritage, it's part of the heritage. The same thing is happening in California and in Australia where people are looking back into history and going back to what were the original grapes, what has been here longest and what is maybe most suited to the climates. You know, when you move away from the trends and when the world market tells us Hey, you need to have lots of Chardonnay or you need to have mirlo or whatever is, you know, underneath that there's always something that's been there that suits the climate. Well be creola or Paice. And to talk a bit about your, the way you guys make wine I've been working with this the first time I've met you Leandro. But I've been working with Mauricio for maybe five years, something like that. I think since the first time I've tasted the wines that you guys make. I've been amazed by the freshness.
And again, when you think of Argentina, we think hot. And obviously with altitude, it's sunlight. But the climate is moderate, but the freshness in the wines are quite incredible. There's two things I think you might talk to us about. One is, there's something very special in the soil and gallery with chalk. And two. As a winemaker, what is it that you do to preserve freshness in a wine or you have plenty of a lot of sunlight?
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yeah. As you mentioned, First, we will try to choose the places where climate and all the terroir give us a special acidity and natural acidity which is our more freshness wines. But also as a matter of the decision of the harvest time.
In Argentina, we have an influence in the some point of Michelle Nolan. And we try to go to California style which is very strong wine, full body, a lot of alcohol and then it was good because Argentina started to export a lot to the US.is our 40% of our revenues as an industry. So in some point it was good to open the international market, but we lost our water opium was more elegant wine, more or less Okey, let's have a ripening and look more for a long wines with a good acidity that goes in your mouth like an arrow and not in quite a way. So, also we look for caressing the grip a little bit more green compared to the other wineries and or sometimes we make a different harvesting time.
So, we harvest some in some point a part of the grape more green to get more presses and at the end three or four times we make more ripening grapes which are more fruity with more colour and we make a balance with different confession time.
And so, also a coming back to the criada way the clear that we are giving also technology that is clear that was for cheap wines one in a carton wise, very cheap people making all the wineries with no technology so we are using concrete eggs where we control the temperature so that they have to do a revival of different grapes also semi young which is really good in Argentina we have planting a very old semi young grapes that people used for cheap wines and not analogy and now we're coming back with a good technology and show people that we call obtain a really good flavour work in different the same rates.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Well, let's talk a little bit about the first one that seniors were talking about freshness. And dawn has a question about vanhilo to say is this project new and what's different about it so this is a good chance maybe to talk a little bit a bit about the idea behind vanilla and this wine particularly it's a blend right of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
This is a vision of a a sorry a Chardonnay and as a medium we make it in a egg shaped concrete vats and do cannabis on both a burritos together and put it a fermented in the egg and then keeping the egg for about six months between six to a month and the idea is because the shape and there's a different temperature make a convection movement and all the leads are all the time rotating inside the air and that is a special flavour and more body.
To this one. Again we in this case we use a yucca valley which is high altitude grapes, a semitone came from a pergola very old which is causing a very higher acidity than the shadow name with this.
Today we want to put more fruity flavours and make a compensation between both it's like the semi or give the body and the and the cardony gives the fruit.
We have really good combination of both wines again we look for a high acidity wine that refreshed you they are really good for preparing food because we usually prefer a sweet thing that a sure thing but the problem is the sweet we can take a little bit and for food it's really good to clean the mouth to clean the palate and this style of wine are really good for a pairing with a different food.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
You said this semyon is on a pergola?
Mauricio Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
In the path a, our grandfather preferred to plant it in pergola because the more yield per hectare Okay, that was the pergola that changed when we want to look for more mature
and quality. And now we plant in this Palio to give exposure to the sun during the morning on the sunset, but in the past that used to plant the pergola to obtain more DLP.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Also in those one of the many of the oldest vineyards of Malbec have Semyon in it, because it is
a French tradition that they may have made. And they're actually nowadays they're still making that blend of Malbec and Semyon because the acidity of the Semyon gives that acidity that may be the Malbec of France doesn't have so many of the oldest vineyards even those who have Semyon in it. Not Not many, not many, not many grapes. But in a small percentage. You can find the pergolas of Malbec with grapes of Semyon mixed inside the grapes of malbec
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Have you ever tried blending Semyon with Malbec
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
We haven't made a wine of Malbec and Semyon but some of the classic style producers make once for example a Aleksandra we heal mates in Katonah makes one one wine of Malbec and Semyon. But we want to make it, but we haven't.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Okay. It'd be interesting to see because, you know, you think of in the Rhone Valley sometimes you see Sierra with 5%, va in in the Basque part of Rio, we work with a producer. on almost every wine, he makes his Deborah Neil with a little bit of the aura. And Aaron whites. And he co ferments them. And it's Yeah, it's an old tradition, as you said it's an older way of winemaking. It was also I think it was an insurance policy sometimes as well, they said if something happens to my red grapes, I still have some white here that I might be able to harvest or vice versa, we do need to talk about
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
right, with the colour of the project, they're gonna keep more current in the wind during the time. So that's why also white wine blended with the white grape with a reference
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
We need to talk about eggs.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Also that kind of presentations were made, because they didn't have all of the products or the industrialised products that you can add now to the wind. So at that time, you couldn't say well, we need to correct acidity, we're going to add citric acid to the wine. In Argentina, it's permitted. So it's interesting to see how they thought because that wasn't on purpose. They thought all of that presentation while they said what is what needs our mailbag it needs a little bit of Semyon so all of that changed. So that's why you don't use it or you don't get to try many wines. Make a blended with red sand, white grapes,
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
The eggs, I really want to talk about it a bit because it's something that really I think a lot of winemakers in Argentina have become quite fashionable. It's something that you don't see everywhere, I guess now, but it mimics the old um, flora and my rice where it's, it's made of cement.
As you said, Mauricio, it's shaped like an egg. So you get a lot of movement inside as the wind ferments, which means usually to get movement, we have to put a stick in and, and, and move everything around, which is real fun. I've said it before to people in Ireland, it's like when you make tea, we love, We love tea in Ireland black tea, right.
But if you have your spoon and you smash the tea bag against the side of the mug, and wine becomes or the tea becomes bitter, but if you let it just move around gently in the in the mug for a few minutes, you get a much more balanced and a much rounder cup of tea, it's the same idea with with a egg isn't it that the grape skins move by themselves, you don't have to manually you know, push them around, and the wines tend to be quite fresh.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
That is where we are going back to our roots again, not only the style also in the winemaking and try to make a less intervention once a natural wine to just try to put the grape obtain the wine and put it in the bottle with a less intervention effect not only human also any other product. So we tried to be more natural as a way to do winemaking.
And this is how we discovered the eggs that also have Asian roots with them for us in the Roman Emperors for us in the past. And we now understand why people use those types of vine format to produce the ones if you do it in a square a traditional seminar but you have different temperatures and then you have different types of wines at the same time in the same vat. And then that's why we try to obtain a better colour and better quality with these eggs. And also as you explain if you take a red grape
The path of the grape is quiet. You can make a white wine from Red wine. So the idea during the fermentation period which is between 20 days with high temperature is to obtain the colour from the skills. So blend all these trees and all these pop with the skins and the egg also help us to obtain this particular flavour and characteristic and colour in a natural way.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Very good. And can you tell us a little bit about vanilla as a project what what the idea Mauricio is behind vinilo Why is it Why is it called vinilo
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Vinilo and beibu the music to listen music.And again the idea is that the back when the compacting starts, and then the mp3 music and then I was streaming people beta vinyl will disappear. That's a part of the name because when I was young, I used to have a lot of vinyls, music and it's like a is a we became a like a winery people and we want to have more to a to think that you can touch people about the books, books will disappear with the with the tablets and everything and the library is still there and people love to buy their their books, their books. And this is a sad day not only because I like music a lot.
Also because this is a traditional way that my grandfather used to make wine and I want to go back to that root at displaying the Aleandro and also I saved my family when I came in at 96. But in the 80s sorry in the 70s in a crisis in Argentina. My grandfather lost his winery and he has to my mother. You have to study, you don't have to be a file maker.
So my mother has tried to study nutrition but in the next generation I came back to winemaking that's why we want to make a wine with our heritage and to honour our grandparents and we discovered the eggs in Europe in about 2010.
And we wanted to buy it to bring to Argentina but it was very expensive because the logistics costs are very heavy. A constructor in Argentina that used to make the square about four wineries. And we asked him to make a famous square but in the egg shape and he hung up crazy guys.
He started to study and then called us. And he tried to move the testing and we built the first eggs in 2012 in Argentina. That's why in some ways we are like pioneers, you should be the eggs with the Cellini brothers in Samsung when I was a general manager at that moment.
We started using dx and this guy with a contractor is a huge business, but he started selling the eggs two all the way.
Yeah, a lot of tealium Winery cast, Argentinean, next we make a special concrete with a blend with the stones to try to have some microbes in Jason and I kept the same microsimulation like a barrel old barrel. So the idea is you have a similar ageing process, do not borrow any a flavour is just the one so we make a some research and produce in the car seat in the same day, the same great, make it in a stainless steel tank in a square but in use it barrels new barrel and the neck and then I look for a lot of winemakers have the most important wineries and do blind tasting and most of the people prefer the wind made in India.
That's why we continue to put in all our vinilo wine in the eggs. And are also looking for this natural winemaking.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Brilliant I some people have mentioned there that they love the story. And it's just such an interesting thing. You know, there's a real theme here of you know, rediscovering what our ancestors, what our grandparents did, and you know you, I remember going to Rio, maybe 15 years ago and being in a very old winery that made COVID mlj.
And they had these huge concrete vats. And they were in there and they were there, there were construction teams in and they were smashing them out. You know, I remember going back five years later, and going to wineries and they were building concrete tanks and you just go you know, it's amazing how quickly we forget why something is good. And then all of a sudden someone goes, you know, again, you know, an international consultant told us to use more oak, we need to get rid of these concrete tanks.
And then five years later, someone does a taste test and goes hey, the concrete is incredible. We need to get more concrete in the winery. It's we always have to listen to listen to our elders. And I suppose that segue’s nicely to you, Leandro working with your father.
You listen to your dad much would you go your own way?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
No, no, we work together very hard. We try to help one another. And while talking back about the eggs, we still use new and used oak because we think we need to work with everything with us oak new oak concrete and steel. Because if you want to have a broad approach of your own but the project for everybody that's my idea.
My idea is to make my project to like my wines, but to have different wines for different tastes because of a huge offer. But the wines from the eggs are much different from the ones from the oak because the oxygen that gets the wine in the egg it's much lesser than the one that gets in the oak. There's too much oxygenation in the oak than in the egg so the wines are quite special.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Tell us a bit now about Bocenalla, your project. Where does the name come from? What does it mean?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Well, Boca was born in 2016. Then the name came from the name of an album, a rock album.
I don't know if you know, solid stereo, the rock group from Tina which is still very, very popular but the lead singer who died two or three years ago.
Then we'll start we'll have had a solo career and he made an album called Bocanada, but also the meaning of the word is very nice because, uh, Bocanada means like, uh, a breath of fresh air. And, uh, I liked what the word uh, means. So it was relation between the my passion from music to, to the meaning of the word.
Uh, I used to play the drums.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
So all of my binders, all of my, all of my wines and the names and the labels us, the Nido have influence of, of music. And that's why I, I wanted to call my project. it's music.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Music is a really strong team for, for you and your dads, right? Yeah.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Uh, I think it is a part of our life.
Uh, during the harvest time, uh, and working in the winery, we'll listen to music twice, uh, 24 hours a day because we, we spent 12 to 16 hours, uh, during the harvest time. So most of the day, till late in the night in the, in the, in the winery. And we, we like to, to make our wines, uh, with music. Work with music and our wives to listen to music.
I think that, uh, music gives, uh, gives us a special touch, uh, to the wines.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Absolutely. It's uh, yeah, and I think, you know, the last nine months, I don't know how much I've listened to gone back and listen to albums that were important to me growing up. And I think, you know, when, when times are difficult and it's kind of scary out there, you can get a lot of comfort from.
Those albums that are important to you, those, those music that's important to you. And so tell us a little bit about Loubirds.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Okay. Amanda, and this is 100% mountain.
Yeah. This is what people send that Malbec from as well as you were saying before. Um, the idea with this, uh, line, but Canada, the one with the bird.
It's uh, to make, uh, wines that talk about the place. So the wine, uh, fermentation is in the concrete X, but then the, the ageing is, can use, uh, barrels, French Oak of 225 liters. Uh, the, using the technique of using oak. It is ope that steals, um, it sales work, but it doesn't add flavors of aromas, uh, that if, if, if, if you said it was a new.
So the idea of working with youth stoke is to age the wine in Oak, uh, to make more, uh, more complexity, to give more complexity to a wine, but without adding all of the flavors and aromas that the New York gives. So in this line, the Oak is used. And the idea is to express, uh, all of, all of the flavors and fruits and the tannins that that special vineyard gives a Waterbury because it is a hydro altitude vineyard at almost a 1,500 meters about sea level.
Uh, that's, that's the idea with this, with this wine, it's a wine with a red fruit, with a, with a great acidity. And freshness, that's the main idea on this one.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
It's, it's beautifully fresh and it, you know, it, it has all those things that we expect from Malbec, from Argentina. It's rich, it's deep, but it's got a freshness you talk about.
Is, is that something that, you know, Maricio mentioned earlier that you harvest a few times or is it just one harvest that happens early? How do you get that freshness into a great, we usually associate with most Solon and alcohol.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Well, English in this, it was only one harvest. Uh, but as my father said before, and not only all of the wines that we make from, from Walter that we harvest earlier, but, uh, it's the fruit, the grapes that gives you that, uh, natural acidity, the solos are very maturely organic for.
So, uh, the characteristics due to the, to the, to the scheme, to the soil, to the, to the climate gives that, uh, that, uh, natural acidity. So it is not only that we harvest earlier, but it is that the grapes from that place like are terroristic of the grapes. They are a Malbecs with a lot of potential. I think the wine, uh, has, uh, many years to, to be opened, uh, Till till now, it has a lot of potential for many years from now on, uh, but it is not only the harvesting time, but the characteristic of the grapes of Malbec high-altitude Malbeck it is verified as you were showing on the map, the, the oldest vineyards in the East of Mendoza where my family was where 700 meters above sea level.
So this is, uh, this doubles, the vineyard scene in altitude. Uh, so the salt, the solos and the altitude and the climate and the expulsion to the sun gives a very special and unique kind of grapes.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Cool. And do, do you work with many different grape varieties? Is it just Malbeck or do you make lots of different kinds of wine?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
No, I, I, I, uh, many, many varieties on this line, on, on the line book another, because they have many other lines. AI make a cover and a front because it's a great that I liked a lot and it's, uh, growing us, us as much as Crayola, uh, covenant, front Gates. It's been one of the newest, uh, current grades that are as fashionable, as you said.
Um, I think that the government has a lot of potential. Um, I make a red blend of Malbec Cabernet and mellow, and also, eh, I have another line that I make, uh, many, many whites. I make some young, I make a Toronto taste and make a Sauvignon Blanc and I make a Cabernet Sauvignon and a bonobo. So I make, uh, many, many grapes.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
If anybody has any, any questions as well? There's, there's a text box. If you came in off of the intro, um, I was gonna ask the question. I get the feeling that you started making wine when you were pretty young.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yeah. Uh, well, I, uh, since I was a child, I love to, to, to visit, uh, uh, vineyards and wineries, but I didn't get to, to work or to be in wineries.
Uh, since I was 17, 16 years old, uh, at that time I started to, to, uh, no one to get to, uh, be on the wineries and the vineyards. And I started to love that. Th those places and, uh, well, I started to help my father, eh, when he was on sources in commercial events with the, with the wines off of sources. Well, um, I didn't study wine making till till this year.
I'm starting to make my studies. I studied, uh, tourism and hotel management. So I did a career on that. But, uh, when the opportunity came, when my father was making vanilla, but because we need those from 2012 it's four years, uh, older than Bocanegra, uh, it was the, the opportunity came to me to, to make wine.
And I said, well, let's, let's make wine and, and let's see what what's happened. Um, but that thing as it, it was like a crazy idea that started to grow and grow year after year. Um, and now we have, uh, Boca all around the world and which I started making two wines. And now I have a, almost 10 wines. I make 10 wines.
So, but it was a process of discovery. I didn't knew that I wanted to be a winemaker to make wines. When, when I was little, I thought I was going to be a lawyer or something else because. My, my grandfather and my uncles are lawyers. So I thought I liked that, but I realized that I didn't. So I am very happy with, with, with, with Weinstein.
Wine-making uh,
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
why, why did he not want to be a drummer?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
I don't know. I, I had it for a guitarist. I had a very, very good professor. Uh, it was very, very, very respected, uh, in the, in the drumming, eh, ambiance, but he was, he was, uh, very, very hard, uh, and it was very hard to, to learn from him because he was, uh, I don't know if it wasn't, uh, uh, very happy at all the times.
So I thought I didn't get much attention. Eh, studying with him. And, uh, I didn't have a place to put a drum on my house because of the neighbors. So I, I abandoned the drumming. Okay.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
We have a couple of questions here. These are, this is pretty interesting. How does the El Nino and LA Nina affect your growing season in those years?
Better or worse wine?
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
It depends. Sometimes it's too dry. Uh, but the worst is a linear, which is more, eh, eh, right. Any during the harvest time. So the risk is that as explained to you, uh, most of our dentalium BGR are mostly natural because as we don't have, eh, um, humidity. Yeah. And the altitude means that we have less disease.
So we have healthier plants. Yeah. And we, when, when you have a lot of humidity, you could have a lot of, uh, uh, difficult, uh, with the, uh, bys on, uh, with the grapes, with the batch.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
All right. Um, what is the taste that you're trying to achieve with Boca Ana?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Well, uh, it depends on the, on the line. Eh, this line is, um, for, for people that like, uh, this, this style of wine with, with acidity, with freshness, uh, I think that their are wines to pair with food, but you can have this wine easily with, with, uh, with bread, with cheese or with nothing because of the, of the, uh, alcohol and the acidity and the fruit that the wine has.
But in the, in the other, in depends on the label, on or on the line of the wine, that, that the tastes are different. For example, I recently I bottle a Magnum bottle. That is a special blend with a first use 500 liters, French Oak. So that's quite a different style of wine with, with more, uh, with more sweetness on the, on the mouth.
Um, more gentle tannins because it was a barrel with, with a very low, uh, uh, toasted on the, on the, on the Oak. And, uh, but I want to have, uh, uh, many, many options for, for different consumers, but the main idea is to make a fresh wines.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
You mentioned the importance of the acidity in the wines. Uh, first, uh, fast is playing is good for midwives that are good for paying food.
Because refresher mouth, the other important issue in the CDT is that balance the alcohol. So you feel the wireless alcohol when it has good acidity. And the third important issue in the acidity is for wine for ageing in the bottle for a long time, because you lose fruit, you lose the color, but the acidity is the extractor that keep the wild living for a long time.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Exactly. Um, you mentioned the word low and low in intervention earlier. Merissa when we were talking about eggs or making wine in a more natural way, is that something important to both of you is as people who produce wine and look out the vineyards to make wines that are more organic and focused or more low intervention.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Yeah. Well, I think that, uh, the, the markets all around the world are changing due to so many things to climate change or due to, to people that are, uh, stop eating, uh, for than becoming more serious about unconscious, about the, the environment and the contamination. And, uh, making wine, you can make, uh, make wines and add, uh, different types of internalize, uh, products.
Uh, as we, we like to call protocol wines that our wines are made with, uh, with a protocol with the least. Well, at this time, we're going to add, uh, some years that are going to get more aromas or something. Uh, or at this time we're going to add this product that is going to make the wine hub, this, uh, distaste.
And, uh, we, we didn't want to make our wines that way because, uh, we are conscious about the environment and what the people is doing nowadays. So we wanted to be more respectable about the, the place that we live in, uh, because the, the word, eh, Tara, which is mentioned everywhere, but. Not much of the people knows what RAR groups and Terraria is the place to raise the people to rise what you do on, on the land.
And we, we want it to be the, as much as respectable as we could, uh, with the place we live in. So that's why we, we choose natural wines. Also, there are a lot of investigations on people, uh, investigating and tasting and making, eh, Uh, wines that are more respectable with, uh, with the nature. Um, they were some scientific, eh, evidence that the, the living things inside the wines were much different that in, in natural wines dining, in protocol wines for wines, with industrials, eh, products added on the process.
So we think that the wines expressed, uh, different and they are. Much different than the wines that you add, uh, uh, products, uh, in the, in the process.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Sorry, we got that advantage that the, we have a small production. So one of the things important to we not rallies to have to taste the wine every day and, uh, to, uh, be sure that that they are healthy, eh, because it's easy to put a lot of, uh, foreign gas.
And on everything that is around there, but that the problem, the after that you drink the wine and you have a headache. So that's how we, we, we have the advantage of being small and we can place all the barrels every day, all the time, every day. And when you come like these big wineries, like work like a factory, It's important that protocols and keep everything clean and a lot of gases and a lot of product.
So the idea is that we could do it because we are a small and that is easy way to do it.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Well, I think when we, in the wines that we use sulfur, we use about 25, 4 cents and than the average of the, of the wines, because, uh, we, we, we use a little bit of sulfur because we think our wines. Uh, have potential to last for many years.
So I made only wine wine, eh, with, with non-sulphor with 0% sulfur, but it was, uh, uh, quite unexperienced. But if you don't add software, you take a risk that the wine in the, in the process, it will, will, will not be big with evolve, uh, badly. So we usually get a bit of suffer because we, we think that the wines have a potential to last for, for many years.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
It's something that's in almost every discussion we've had in these series. Everybody we've talked to has talked about that idea that when you make a wine with less intervention, that there's, there's more energy that there's, there's something there that it's hard to quantify. Um, and it's interesting to hear you hear you.
I agree with that. Just, just to wrap this self Donald's. Got it. Great question. I choose it to end the conversation. He says, have you delivered what you're trying to achieve?
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Okay. Uh, I think that, yes. Um, I think I, I have a long way to, to, to learn. Uh, I, I made, uh, I have made my, my mistakes, uh, because the, the kind of wine-making that I practiced is, is very risky.
So I, I ruined many, many virals ring many times, but that's part of the, of the experience. But I think that the, the people or the customers and the importers all around the world are, are very happy with my wines. Uh, but I, I think I have a long, a long way to, to learn and to work and to get a much better wines because, uh, I am, I am very young and the product is still new, but I think I, I have, I am happy with, with what I'm done until now.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
Absolutely. I just noticed, yeah, I misread it. It's Donald was complimenting, you said you have deliberate what you're trying to achieve. I misread it and asked us the question of you, but that's, I appreciate the answer and you know, I'd agree. One of the parts of my job. I enjoy the most. They get to taste a lot of wine every year and the wines have always struck me as having great clarity.
Great purity, great freshness, elegance. And, uh, yeah, I think they're great. Um, so congratulations or super wines. Look forward to importing more and selling more and hopefully people who've, um, in the conversation, I've learned a bit more about you guys and a bit more about Argentina. And what we'll do is we have some Crayola it's right here.
We were talking about. So we'll start stuffing this into some boxes as well as people in order so they can get as well. So, um, thank you guys so much for joining us and. Enjoy your summer holidays.
Leandro - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Thank you. Thank you for your, for your invitation to all the people that got online to, to, to ask questions and to, to learn about us. Uh, it is, it is very important to us to, uh, to tell all the people around the world that the way we make our wines and what is happening around the Mendoza and to tell the people that have.
Great Malbecs but we are making, uh, some other great wines from another great grapes. So thank you for the opportunity to talk about the wines.
Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
And also we are lucky after COVID crisis we could be to do again.
Ronan Farrell - WineLab:
And I look forward to that very much. Thanks guys. Good. Nice. Thank you everybody for showing up.
Leandro & Mauricio Boullade - Wine Manufacturer from Argentina:
Thank you very much. Bye.
Yeah.