2019 Ver Sacrum Clarete Mendoza

Region: Uco Valley > Mendoza > Argentina  

Grapes: 40% Garnacha, 40% Syrah, 20% Marsanne

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Organic farming; two vineyard sources at 3600 ft altitude, one with clacareous river stones and the other sandy soils; all fruit is de-stemmed, then the Marsanne and Grenache are co-fermented over 15 days with 6 hours of skin contact during the press cycle, while the Syrah was direct-press with a 20-day fermentation; aged in concrete vat for 3 months before bottling with a light filtration (vegan); 12% ABV; 500 cases

Winemaker: Eduardo Soler 

New winemakers are inspired by many things – most often an experience with a particular wine, or style of wine – they then pick up the skills and understanding of vines and terroir. Eduardo Soler came to become a winemaker after being inspired by the mountains of Argentina. He is an avid mountaineer who has climbed multiple famous peaks and worked ski patrol in Aspen, Colorado and Mendoza for many years. At one point he visited the Gredos mountains near Madrid, Spain where he tasted high altitude Garnacha and knew that he could make this work in his home of Argentina. He returned in 2012 to plant vines at over 4000 feet in the Uco Valley of Mendoza. Mendoza is not new to viticulture, as you likely know – we’ve all seen the ubiquitous critter labels scattered about at the grocery store.  In the area, nearly 50% of the land is planted to Malbec.  Mostly shitty Malbec, farmed conventionally, destined for supermarket shelves around the world.

Eduardo showed up with the idea to plant Rhone varietals, which pretty much didn’t exist in Argentina. His winemaking is similarly different than we might expect from the average Argentinian wine – completely low intervention with native yeast fermentations, short macerations and an explicit exclusion of pump overs that increase extraction and tannin.

Even though this is called a rosé, we think it falls somewhere in between a deep winter rosé and a light, crushable red.  Bright and lifted (a hallmark of red/white co-ferments) and glowing the most gorgeous translucent ruby color, it has the texture of a light red and loads of freshness. The flavors are all over the place -- blood orange, lime, rosemary and (I swear!) cinnamon bubblegum -- with a nice mineral pop on the finish.  Super delicious and serious enough to pair with food, like fish tacos or a spicy dal.