Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/7240
march 2010 / the tasting panel / 43 them an ideal fit with Eco Valley's ecological stance. Just nine miles from the city, Premier Wines has one of the best-equipped facilities in Argentina for the production of sparkling wines. Against the backdrop of the sublime Andes Mountains, Mendoza's high-el- evation Tupungato district is home to Domaine Jean Bousquet. The French native found his dream terroir at this 4,000-foot elevation and, like other producers in the Eco Valley portfo- lio, utilizes the ancient canal system created by the area's original Huarpe people to irrigate his carefully tended vines. Bousquet's Camaleon Cabernet Sauvignon is exemplary of the tannin structure and intensity of wines from Tupungato. Although his winery is located in Perdriel, up-and-coming star winemaker Mauricio Lorca draws on grapes from the Valle de Uco in central Mendoza province, where low yields (one to two bottles per plant) create concentrated aromas, brilliant color and superb varietal expression in wines such as Lorca's Temático Malbec. Lorca's stately, Malbec-driven Temático Gran Reserva is cluster-se- lected and aged 12 months in French and American oak. Even further south, in Mendoza's arid San Rafael district, the venerable Bodegas Goyenechea dates back to 1868, making it the oldest established, independent, family-owned winery in Argentina. Goyenechea was instru- mental in the creation of the official San Rafael appellation in 1993 and produces 100 percent estate-grown wines under the Goyenechea and Tango Real labels. Neuquén This remote province represents the mystery of Patagonia—the wind-swept southern tip of the South American continent—and is also becoming known for some of Argentina's most cutting- edge wines. At the vineyards of Familia Schroeder, the difference in temperature between day and night can span an astonishing 70 degrees, while soils of pebble, gravel, sand and clay provide a rich terroir. The state-of-the-art Familia Schroeder winery is one of Argentina's most advanced. Cool-cli- mate Sauvignon Blanc is a specialty, and it's also at this gravity-feed facility that Paul Hobbs is working with the Schroeder family to create something entirely unexpected: an emblematic Pinot Noir from Argentina. Vineyards at Valle de la Puerta in the La Rioja region. PHOTO COURTESY OF VALLE DE LA PUERTA PHOTO COURTESY OF FINCA SANTA SYLVIA The vineyards at Finca Santa Sylvia. Domaine Jean Bousquet, a French transplant in Mendoza's high-elevation Tupungato district. The haunting landscape of Patagonia at Familia Schroeder. PHOTO COURTESY OF FAMILIA SCHROEDER PHOTO COURTESY OF DOMAINE JEAN Luis, Leonardo and Roberto Schroeder at Familia Schroeder. PHOTO COURTESY OF FAMILIA SCHROEDER cover Story