NEUQUEN.- deeply colored wines from terroir of dinosaur fossils and petrified forests; wine stored in her sweet tannins whisper myths and legends; best wines whose aromas at the foot of the vineyards from which they arose enjoy.
Provincial Route 7, 39 ° south latitude, 300 meters above the sea level. Patagonian wine tours allow unite young region of San Patricio Chañar in the province of Neuquén with Black River and historic wineries in the Upper Valley, near General Roca. These roads are the fourth Argentine wine tourism corridor in importance after Mendoza, Salta and San Juan.
Using drip irrigation, the desert is transformed with river water: Patagonia, 30% of the country inhabited by 6% of the population, the reserve contains world’s largest freshwater. The breezes and the wind! Vines preserve plagues do lack herbicides except for sulfur ovidium. The wines are almost organic without certification.
Merlot and Pinot Noir from Patagonia are a jealously guarded secret: two strains here managed correctly. Someone once said that a good Pinot Noir should explode in your mouth like a bonbon Ceriset. And he was right: the first feeling, from the color and fragrance to the refined roundness on the palate, it is a rich chocolate cherry.
The walk along the wine routes of Neuquén, San Patricio with the -a Chañar as 60 kilometers from the provincial capital city axis, can add a day to the wineries of Black River. Thus we have a rough picture of the Patagonian viticulture, although there are vineyards in El Hoyo de Epuyén, Chubut (Weinert) and May 25, La Pampa (Bodega del Desierto).
The broker enoturístico Chañar, gently undulating plain in the central section of the Neuquén River valley, is mainly composed by Bodega del Fin del Mundo, NQN, Familia Schroeder and Valle Perdido Wine Resort.
the pioneer
Bodega del Fin del Mundo, with the advice of Michel Rolland, is an example of technology serving wine. Installed in Chañar since 2001, pioneered and is the largest enterprise in the area, with 850 hectares planted. Make 8 million liters annually of brands such as Post Doomsday and Ventus (mechanical harvesting), Newen, End of the World and Singlevineyards (manual harvest).
In the course of forty minutes, Doomsday proposes tasting tanks, an activity that winemakers do every day: it is very useful to learn how to evolve the aromas and flavors associations with the wines. Given the influx of tourism to the end of the tour a Patagonian chopped tasting line End of the World was implemented.
Meanwhile, Roberto Schroeder has 140 hectares of vineyards caring for eight years. Achieve 2.3 million liters annually. Familia Schroeder, leaning over the fence, uses gravity in moving the grapes for less manipulation.
Dinosaur fossils, especially a aelosaurus 75 million years found to carry the winery cellar, gave their names to two lines of 25 signature wines, ranging from a foaming up late, through the staple, about to hit the market. Of Saurus (lizard) the Deseado Torrontes, some fermentation in barrels and other wood-free, fresh in the mouth thanks to its natural acidity, such as Sauvignon Blanc 2011, juicy as the barrell fermented Saurus Pinot Noir 2008: bottles deserve reveal their secrets.
The engineer that Schroeder Patagonia, 39 ° south latitude, in the vineyards produce the same effect as the height. “In the summer there are 40 minutes of sun in Mendoza, achieving more complete maturation cycles,” he says.
Stay and eat
Both Familia Schroeder as NQN offer a more complete experience linked to their renowned restaurants, Malma and Saurus. Both with beautiful views fences are built on desert where irrigation allows the presence of fruits like cherry and flowers like roses and lavender.
The Swiss Boris Walker heads the restaurant Saurus from the beginning. Use hundred percent regional products, wood pruning roasting lamb, chicken from neighboring farms, the orchards aromatic paying promoting the fruits of social responsibility.
With the advice of Roberto de la Mota, Bodega NQN deployed in Malma Resto Bar, with Chef Matias Nuñez to front, high quality wines planted 127 hectares of the total 800 that holds.
Núñez also uses local produce: vegetables, fruits, oyster mushrooms, rabbits. The clay oven, broiler or grill meats come prepared each day: you can eat three-course menu or a la carte. The restaurant, glass overlooking the vineyards, offers chivito mass and Patagonian lamb, among other delicacies. To this guest house with two bedrooms in addition recently opened. The wines are half price in wine shops.
Always in the San Patricio del Chañar, Valle Perdido Wine Resort is a huge and luxurious surrounded by 150 hectares of vineyards entrepreneurship. The setting and the views are amazing, but the site looks a little deserted. Eighteen rooms and a restaurant by the friendly chef Guido Malacalza who, along with winemaker Miguel Cordoba, keeps alive the fire place. The wines are not seen in the domestic market.
