2011 Piantao

The 2011 Piantao needs some explanation. There is a tango that says “I’m piantao, piantao, piantao,” which means crazy. They give a name to each vat and egg to be able to talk about them. In the 2011 there was a vat they called piantao. It is mainly Cabernet Franc, but they added any other lots or barrels that were “different,” so it has a little Syrah, a little Malbec, a little of everything. To start with, they had a 10,000-liter vat waiting for this Cabernet Franc and they only received 2,000 kilos of it. So, since they did not want to add yeasts, they let it ferment wild and were adding grapes as they arrived. Crazy? It is a bit riper with more black fruit character, in particular some notes of blackberries. It is a bit tannic, somehow marked by 30% new wood. A ripe wine for the style of the house. Drink 2015-2020. Zorzal is a young winery, created in 2008 with the objective of showing the terroir of Gualtallary, Tupungato in the Uco Valley, where the vineyards are located at 1,350 meters altitude and the soils are alluvial with granite and calcium carbonate. It is owned by the Michelini brothers (who are involved in other multiple projects, most of them also in Gualtallary) and some Canadian investors. Grupo Belen from Chile has been the sole worldwide agent for Zorzal wines since 2011. The winery is quite simple, and they are championing the fermentation and aging of wines in egg-shaped cement vats, a trend that seems to be catching in Argentina and Chile. They are planting vineyards and also sourcing grapes from small growers (maximum three hectares) for whom they work the vineyards. The origin of the Michelini family is a traditional blend of Spanish and Italian blood: their mother is from Mallorca and although their father was born in Argentina, the grandparents from his side were grape-growers from Italy. Gerardo Michelini, the eldest son, worked for Banca March in Mallorca for four years, and with the money he earned there, he bought the land for their vineyards in 2005. He finally started making wine in 2008. All wines from Zorzal come from Gualtallary, at 1,400 meters above sea level (the vineyards there range from 1,200 to 1,700 meters), where the soils are very rich in chalk, very poor, the climate is cool and sun radiation is quite strong. Juan Pedro “Juanpi” is the winemaker. Matias, the other brother is also a winemaker. As far as how the wines are produced, Juanpi selects the stems on the sorting table, and takes away the greener ones. This is like a big experimental center, they love trying new things. They are in search of understanding and interpreting their terroir. The oldest vineyard in Gualtallary is 16 years old (Adrianna vineyard, planted by Catena), so this is a very young region. They started using 500-liter barrels a couple of years ago. They work on a non-intervention basis, both in the winery and in the vineyards. They allow the plants to grow and the vineyard is healthy, they never do green harvest or clipping of leaves. They control yields, but just as you should not overproduce (they never do more than 8,000 kilos per hectare), very low yields are also dangerous. All reds are fermented in egg-shaped concrete vats (16,000 liter). They designed the eggs themselves with the help of their father, who is an engineer. They like the egg-shaped vats because they find temperatures are very stable during fermentation, keeping at 22 to 24 degrees C. Talking about the different years, they told me they like 2013 very much, because it was a cooler year, which kept the acidity and freshness. For them, unlike what I heard from many, 2011 was very warm and 2012 was also warm, but less than 2011. They compare 2009 to 2011, a very warm vintage. They make 500,000 bottles per year, the total capacity of the winery, of which they export 90%. They are now going beyond co-fermentation and are co-planting Malbec with Cabernet Franc, Riesling with Sauvignon Blanc. The Michelini brothers are intelligent, innovative and creative, they like to experiment and cross the lines. They have countless other projects: Passionate Wines, Michelini Bros, Gen del Alma, and Gualta. They are building new wineries and starting new joint ventures with friends, in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. These are refreshing wines and people, fun and full of energy. Imported by Brazos Wine Imports, Brooklyn, NY; www.brazoswineimports.com