viticulture Archives - The Connected Table

Chile's Montes Winery — Chile’s Montes Winery

Fascinated by the winemaking business at an early age, Aurelio Montes, Sr. has spent a lifetime raising the bar for Chilean wines. First as a winemaker at Undurraga, and then as founder of his own eponymous winery, Viña Montes, where with the release of his now legendary Montes Alpha M, he was the first to make what the Chileans refer to as an “Icon” wine, a high end Bordeaux style blend made from the classic French varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Others have certainly followed, and Chilean Bordeaux-style blends have become a benchmark for South American wine.

Aurelio Montes Senior — Aurelio Montes, Sr.

It all started with the shared vision of Aurelio and his partner Douglas Murray, who founded Viña Montes in 1988 with the dream to elevate Chilean wine in the eyes of the world, through the shared vision that Chile had the climate and terroir to create wines that would not only stand the test of time, but would stand up to, and possibly surpass, their more well-known European counterparts.

Aurelio Montes, Junior — Aurelio Montes, Jr

Twenty five years later, Montes has done just that and become one of the truly legendary brands in the world of wine, and Aurelio, now with his son Aurelio, Jr., who helms the family’s interests in Argentina, namely the Mendoza-based Kaiken winery, remains at the forefront of South America’s winemaking industry.

Both Aurelio Sr. & Jr. join us on The Connected Table LIVE! Wednesday October 21, 2:28pm, EST, to talk about their family’s winemaking legacy and wines, both in Chile and Argentina. We’ll also discuss their newest ventures in California: Napa Angel, a Napa Valley Cabernet; and Star Angel, series of wines from Paso Robles Syrah and Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir.

Connect: www.monteswines.com www.kaikenwines.com

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One of the things we enjoy about hosting our radio show is taking our listeners and followers to regions of the world where great wine and food are produced. We are passionate travelers and- as we like to say- insatiably curious.

Last week we “traveled” to Greece to taste wines and talk with Chef Maria Loi (Proprietor of NYC’s Loi Estiatorio and Co-Author of “The Greek Diet”) and Vintner Yiannis Voyatzis, (Boutari Vineyards and Director of New Wines of Greece). If you missed the live interview you can listen on iHeart anytime at this link.

This week we will “virtually” travel to Uruguay to discuss the country’s wine culture and visit with Daniel Pisano, a fourth generation vintner at Bodegas Pisano Vineyards. Daniel says he is “a farmer born in the vineyard” as were his ancestors dating back to great grandfather Francesco Pisano who first planted his vines in 1870 on a plot of land north of Montevido. Today, Bodegas Pisano is among a group predominantly family-owned vignerons producing wine in Uruguay. He works alongside his two brothers, Gustavo and Eduardo.

Gustavo, Daniel and Eduardo Pisano. Bodegas Pisano — Gustavo, Daniel and Eduardo Pisano, Bodegas Pisano

We’ll discuss Daniel’s family winery as well as wine making in Uruguay which is most renowned for Tannat, the country’s signature varietal. According to the trade organization Wines of Uruguay, more Tannat is grown in Uruguay than anywhere else in the world; at last count 7,200 acres. The Tannat varietal hails from the Madiran region near Bordeaux. It was introduced into Uruguay by Basque immigrants.

Uruguay is home to over 3,000 growers and 200 wineries with 22,000 acres of vineyards. The Uruguayan climate is influenced by Atlantic breezes, much like Bordeaux, although warmer and with more intense sun (220 days of sunshine annually). Refreshing cool air comes up from the Antarctic. The ripening period is long, and the wines are usually lower in alcohol, averaging 12% to 12.5%.

Uruguay is located south of Brazil off the Atlantic Ocean. It is blessed with 220 days of sunshine and cool breezes from the Antarctic. Wine growing conditions are favorable to those in Bordeaux.

In addition to the Tannat varietal, winemakers have also found success with reds: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Syrah and whites: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Albariño and Viogner. Today, Uruguay produces over 10 million cases, much of it for export to the U.S. Canada and throughout South America and elsewhere. – posted by Melanie Young

Connect:

http://www.pisanowines.com/

http://www.winesofuruguay.com/

https://twitter.com/winesofuruguay

https://www.facebook.com/Wines.of.Uruguay

Join Melanie and David on The Connected Table LIVE! Wednesdays, 2pm ET on W4CY.com and anytime on iHeart

Melanie Young and David Ransom are the Insatiably Curious Culinary Couple who profile the dynamic people who work front and center and behind the scenes in food, wine, spirits and hospitality and explore the places you want to visit and savor.

Listen to all our show episodes on iHeart and the iHeart App anytime, anywhere. Just click to Episodes and look for the show by guest name: http://www.iheart.com/show/209-The-Connected-Table-Live

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