Weekend
Wine Warriors in Mexico
What
does a mama get when she raises a plastic surgeon, an x-ray technician,
an architect, and adds a soon-to-be oenologist grandson, and turns
them loose in a winery? Serious, muscular, deep, rich, thigh-slapping
red vino on the dinner table, that’s what!
What
does a Swiss-French oceanographer do in his spare time? Other than:
rescuing damaged olive trees, growing organic produce, managing a
farmer’s market on his property, and raising chickens and Charolais
cattle? He makes lip-smacking vino!
In this
installment, we’ll take a look at two smaller, focused, highly
artisanal Valle de Guadalupe wineries producing the good juice.
In 1994,
trace hermanos, Roberto, Abel, and Bernardo Lafarge began planting
grapevines in the upper Valle under the name Vinedos Lafarga. Concentrating
on four heavyweight red varietals, Cabernet Savignon, Merlot, Syrah,
and interestingly, Nebbiolo, a varietal originally from northwest
Bella Italia (think Barolos, and Gattinaras).
Loving
the evenings cooled by marine breezes, and warm to hot days, the grapes
thrived. Initially, production was miniscule, because consistent pruning
made for small, but highly concentrated, lots. Now up to only about
1000 cases, Lafarge would have to be considered a small player in
the game, but it would hard to find a group of reds with more power,
extract, complexity, depth and flavor.
We were
honored to be invited as the first ever visitors to their winery.
There is no formal tasting room yet, so we stood among the barrels
and we were treated some of the finest juice of the trip. A”
wine thief” (a long glass tube winemakers use to draw barrel
samples) was employed to taste upcoming blends. The smart thing to
do would be to take a small sip and dump the rest but they were too
delicious to waste. Loved ‘em all. The brothers have made two
special blends named after their parents. I thought the “DJ
1905”, a 2004 Cab/Merlot/Syrah a knockout! (father Don Jose,
born in 1905). Janet liked the more approachable NV Merlot/ Cab blend,
“Esther” (after mama).
Don Jose
and Esther have much to be proud of.
Antonio
Bedan arrived in the Valle at the ripe old age of two. His father,
Henri, had come to the Valle to start an olive oil business based
on the abundance of olive trees thriving there. He selected a 2500
acre property “El Mogor”. Among the olive trees, Henri
planted some vine shoots given to him by a friend. So, you could say,
Antonio grew up in the wine business, and in the European tradition,
wine was served with daily meals, but it was many years before he
got the “wine bug”. A trip to Bordeaux changed all that,
and he began to devote all his “free time” to studying
wine (and getting a doctorate in Marine Physics all the while). Mogor-Bedan
Winery was born.
Only
two types of wine are produced: a tightly wound, intense, Bordeaux
style Cabernet/Merlot blend with some Temeranillo and Cabernet Franc.
And, Chassalas, a pretty, fresh, citrusy white with elegant, delicious
tropical fruit flavors. A Swiss varietal, it is grown only in Switzerland,
northern Germany, and at Mogor-Bedan.
Antonio
oversees every aspect of his 600 case per year operation, from crushing
the grapes to pasting on the labels. He had the labels designed using
old print type from a print shop in Paris. He is totally “hands-on”.
His sister
Natalia lives on the property and operates a weekly impromptu farmers
market on the porch of the main house. As active as her brother, she
has organized protests against proposed housing subdivisions, and
other large scale intrusions into the Valle.
The
recently completed wine cellar is stunning; made from rocks dug from
the property and surrounding area. Armed with a generous glass of
the red blend, we repaired there, sat around on the barrels and talked
shop, among other things. A true Renaissance man, fluent in many subjects,
he is old school, deplores “creeping gentrification”,
and dumbing down of society. Viva Antonio!
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