Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/759555
december 2016 / the tasting panel / 49 While modern appellation of origin systems are founded on the idea of regional unity—traditions, terroir and grape varieties that unite a winemaking culture—there is still the matter of outliers. Like Savennières in the Loire Valley of France, or the Super Tuscan movement in Italy, sometimes a broader appellation doesn't quite make sense for an individual winery, whether because of the land itself or the estate's approach to wine. When 47-year-old Manuel Louzada joined SPI Group, headed by Yuri Shefler, in 2015, he was tasked with developing the company's wine divi- sion. He looked right away to Arínzano, a 128-hectare estate in Navarra that was the first property in Northern Spain to achieve the rare, highly limited DO Pago status (Spain cur- rently has a total of 14 official DO Pago estates, with three more pending). The property of Arínzano was planted with vines as far back as 1055, according to records, but over the cen- turies the grapevines were occasionally replaced with cereals, per economic needs. In modern times, the current plantings at Arínzano are from the end PERFECTLY DRY AND COOL CONDITIONS IN THE ARÍNZANO VINEYARDS MEAN LOW MILDEW PRESSURE AND PLENTY OF ACIDITY, BUT ALSO CONCENTRATION. Arínzano wines tasted during lunch at The Dutch in the W South Beach Hotel, Miami. Mozzarella and heirloom tomato salad and watermelon and hamachi bites, touched up with tangy jalapeño paired wonder- fully alongside the Arínzano Chardonnays: Hacienda de Arínzano 2014 White and 100 percent Tempranillo Hacienda de Arinzano 2015 Rosé.