At The Vines' Winemaker Night Gwynne Hogan not only enjoys the multi-layered wines of Lurton but also their multi-talented staff.
The Vines' translator became momentarily obsolete as Lurton's charming winemaker awed the crowd with his flawless English, Spanish and French this past wedesday at Winemaker's Night. A product of bicultural parents, Luca Hodgkinson represents the winery well, seeing as its french owners have different wine producing entities in Argentina, Portugal, Spain, France and Chile. Instead of selling all of their products under the same name, each winery has a different name and offers unique wines that respect the terroir from which they come.
In Mendoza, Lurton is based out of the Uco Valley, and all the wines we try tonight are from Uco. The first malbec is true to these roots, with a pulsing minerality and eucalyptus notes. The Cabernet Sauvignon in the same line shows more varietal characteristics, with smoked red pepper and black fruit aromas.
Subdued and subtle yet firm in structure and full of character, all the wines we taste have a distinctly European feel. They are also wines that pair excelently with food. Luca explains that his, "mother was a gourmet chef" and so he always looks at wine as a way to enhance a meal. Accordingly, the food pairings he offers for the wines we taste are elaborate and untraditional; bird of prey, venison, or wine-soaked wild boar. Even with The Vines' platter of cheese to dampen our appetites, we are left salivating at the gourmet possibilities that are conjured by his descriptions.
The last wine we try is Piedra Negra or black rock, named after the stones found in the dried up river bed upon which Lurton is built. Piedra Negra is a fifty fifty malbec and cot blend, cot of course being the original French ancestor of malbec. Busty and fruitful we sip away contentedly while Luca speaks about some more abstract elements of the trade. He explains that the nose is, "one of the most precise and complex organs. It can detect extremely low concentrations" of any given substance. Then he reminds us that wine tasting is "an exercise in humility" entirely determined by one's own perception in the moment we taste a wine. This rumination helps any amateur tasters in the room breathe easier, and we return our deep violet malbec in peace.
The Vines holds Winemaker's Night every Wednesday at The Vines Tasting Room, Espejo 567, at 7pm. Entrance costs $40AR.
