Lujan de Cuyo is part of Mendoza Province, not far from Mendoza city; it is also a denomination of origin (DOC) - the first and only one in Argentina.
The production area covered includes Mayor Drummond, Vistalba, Las Compuertas, Carrodilla, La Puntilla, Chacras de Coria, Perdriel and Agrelo. They are located in areas that are between 800 and 1,000 meters above sea level in the department of Lujan de Cuyo.
We couldn’t leave this precious part of Argentina Viticulture uncovered; this is why we went for a very special experience in one of the fine producers in the region.
This is “The Place” for Malbec and nothing better than visiting a winery specialized in Malbec.
Belasco de Baquedano, 49 km far from Mendoza City, is part of the Familia Belasco group, which also has wineries in Spain (Navarra, Toro y Rueda).
They have five wines:
1) Swinto (Swinto means “crow” in huarpe language. Huarpes were the first inhabitants of Mendoza river valley. Belasco in euskera language also means “crow”. Hence, Swinto is Belasco and Belasco is Swinto.)
2) Ar Guentota
3) Llama (or Loan Spanish spoken countries – a name not very appealing to English spoken ones)
4) Moncagua and
5) Rosa de Argentina
The last one is a rose and all of them made of 100% Malbec.
The Wine Sur WEB site has some really interesting information that I thought would be stupid to try recreate it, so here it follows as it is:
“The Belasco de Baquedano project was launched in 1996, when a New World vineyard was sought by Juan Ignacio Velasco, the company’s president. After seven trips to different wine regions of Chile and Argentina with the group’s winemaker and consultant Bertrand Bourdil, in 2003 he bought a spectacular 74-hectare vineyard planted in 1910 in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, the cradle of Argentina’s Malbec.
…
Belasco family’s hope of expanding their presence in the winemaking world has taken them to Argentina, one of the most promising countries in the production of high quality wines. Mendoza province was the most suitable place to fulfill their long-standing dream of exploring the southern hemisphere’s viticultural features.
After buying magnificent vineyards, the following step for the company was building a winery in March 2004. The building was equipped with state-of-the-art technology so as to receive the first grape harvest and make exceptional wines.
Belasco de Baquedano is located in a spectacular area, just on foot of The Andes mountains, a place of particular beauty. It is surrounded by 70 hectares of Malbec vineyards planted in 1910 in fine loam soils of alluvial origin in Agrelo and Perdriel districts, Luján de Cuyo. The quality of the soil, combined with the high density of vines per hectare and the technical team’s work, ensures a very low yield and the best fruits with typical Malbec characteristics.
In October 2008, the winery Belasco de Baquedano was officially inaugurated in Argentina.”
The building is enormous and gives a huge impression on the entrance; especially of its main entry which is from a giant door that reflects the Andes Mountains – not a bad picture.
Our contact with the winery was a really good one from the very beginning. The attention and kindness of the in charge of tourism were remarkable all the way through.
We started our tour getting to know about the winemaking process and ended up in the best finishing of a visit ever: the Aroma’s Room – the only room of its kind in the Americas.
It is an experience that any wine lover should have the right to live, at least once in life.
We get on the room as you would be entering in a romantic set place: half-light. Then you can take your time to discover and explore 46 different aromas, divided in 4 groups:
1) Primary Aromas – These aromas come from the raw material itself and are specific to each variety; they are also known as varietal aromas. Although they are specific to each vine, they vary depending on the soil type, microclimate and degree of maturity if the grapes;
2) Secondary Aromas – These aromas are produced by the yeasts during the fermentation process and are mainly due to the ethanol, aldehydes, esters, ketones, fatty acids and higher alcohols. Fermentation temperature and other factors affect the nature of these compounds;
3) Tertiary Aromas – These aromas appear both during ageing and also when the wine reposes in the bottle. The ensemble of aromas forms the wine’s bouquet, which depends on the variety and maturity of the grape, the enological practices employed and the wood used during ageing;
4) Defects – A wine fault or defect is an unpleasant characteristic of a wine often resulting from poor winemaking practices or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage.
Do you want to know which they are? Nah… you have to visit the room.
The room is very educative, as you can see from the information above (well, I do give the credits) and much more you will find there.
We played around with the aromas, teasing each other to find out them blind. It was fun!
Guessed where we ended up… yeah, at restaurant! - I’m self confessed sinner.
On our way up to the floor where the eatery and a beautiful terrace are, we passed by the Tasting Room, very well set.
The rest of the history you can guess: good food, great wine, same pleasure. Laugh and chat were shared on the table with a view to memorize.
The winery has wines that match with the Andes Mountains sight you get: you will not forget.
The prices are very reasonable, what make the wines a great good-value-for-money, as most of people like classifying some alike.
I just think they were great, those that you close your eyes to appreciate them better. Well at last I do…
Cheers, Marcia Amaral
The production area covered includes Mayor Drummond, Vistalba, Las Compuertas, Carrodilla, La Puntilla, Chacras de Coria, Perdriel and Agrelo. They are located in areas that are between 800 and 1,000 meters above sea level in the department of Lujan de Cuyo.
We couldn’t leave this precious part of Argentina Viticulture uncovered; this is why we went for a very special experience in one of the fine producers in the region.
This is “The Place” for Malbec and nothing better than visiting a winery specialized in Malbec.
Belasco de Baquedano, 49 km far from Mendoza City, is part of the Familia Belasco group, which also has wineries in Spain (Navarra, Toro y Rueda).
They have five wines:
1) Swinto (Swinto means “crow” in huarpe language. Huarpes were the first inhabitants of Mendoza river valley. Belasco in euskera language also means “crow”. Hence, Swinto is Belasco and Belasco is Swinto.)
2) Ar Guentota
3) Llama (or Loan Spanish spoken countries – a name not very appealing to English spoken ones)
4) Moncagua and
5) Rosa de Argentina
The last one is a rose and all of them made of 100% Malbec.
The Wine Sur WEB site has some really interesting information that I thought would be stupid to try recreate it, so here it follows as it is:
“The Belasco de Baquedano project was launched in 1996, when a New World vineyard was sought by Juan Ignacio Velasco, the company’s president. After seven trips to different wine regions of Chile and Argentina with the group’s winemaker and consultant Bertrand Bourdil, in 2003 he bought a spectacular 74-hectare vineyard planted in 1910 in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, the cradle of Argentina’s Malbec.
…
Belasco family’s hope of expanding their presence in the winemaking world has taken them to Argentina, one of the most promising countries in the production of high quality wines. Mendoza province was the most suitable place to fulfill their long-standing dream of exploring the southern hemisphere’s viticultural features.
After buying magnificent vineyards, the following step for the company was building a winery in March 2004. The building was equipped with state-of-the-art technology so as to receive the first grape harvest and make exceptional wines.
Belasco de Baquedano is located in a spectacular area, just on foot of The Andes mountains, a place of particular beauty. It is surrounded by 70 hectares of Malbec vineyards planted in 1910 in fine loam soils of alluvial origin in Agrelo and Perdriel districts, Luján de Cuyo. The quality of the soil, combined with the high density of vines per hectare and the technical team’s work, ensures a very low yield and the best fruits with typical Malbec characteristics.
In October 2008, the winery Belasco de Baquedano was officially inaugurated in Argentina.”
The building is enormous and gives a huge impression on the entrance; especially of its main entry which is from a giant door that reflects the Andes Mountains – not a bad picture.
Our contact with the winery was a really good one from the very beginning. The attention and kindness of the in charge of tourism were remarkable all the way through.
We started our tour getting to know about the winemaking process and ended up in the best finishing of a visit ever: the Aroma’s Room – the only room of its kind in the Americas.
It is an experience that any wine lover should have the right to live, at least once in life.
We get on the room as you would be entering in a romantic set place: half-light. Then you can take your time to discover and explore 46 different aromas, divided in 4 groups:
1) Primary Aromas – These aromas come from the raw material itself and are specific to each variety; they are also known as varietal aromas. Although they are specific to each vine, they vary depending on the soil type, microclimate and degree of maturity if the grapes;
2) Secondary Aromas – These aromas are produced by the yeasts during the fermentation process and are mainly due to the ethanol, aldehydes, esters, ketones, fatty acids and higher alcohols. Fermentation temperature and other factors affect the nature of these compounds;
3) Tertiary Aromas – These aromas appear both during ageing and also when the wine reposes in the bottle. The ensemble of aromas forms the wine’s bouquet, which depends on the variety and maturity of the grape, the enological practices employed and the wood used during ageing;
4) Defects – A wine fault or defect is an unpleasant characteristic of a wine often resulting from poor winemaking practices or storage conditions, and leading to wine spoilage.
Do you want to know which they are? Nah… you have to visit the room.
The room is very educative, as you can see from the information above (well, I do give the credits) and much more you will find there.
We played around with the aromas, teasing each other to find out them blind. It was fun!
Guessed where we ended up… yeah, at restaurant! - I’m self confessed sinner.
On our way up to the floor where the eatery and a beautiful terrace are, we passed by the Tasting Room, very well set.
The rest of the history you can guess: good food, great wine, same pleasure. Laugh and chat were shared on the table with a view to memorize.
The winery has wines that match with the Andes Mountains sight you get: you will not forget.
The prices are very reasonable, what make the wines a great good-value-for-money, as most of people like classifying some alike.
I just think they were great, those that you close your eyes to appreciate them better. Well at last I do…
Cheers, Marcia Amaral