Bodegas Bianchi winemaker Silvio Alberto talks about two terroirs, Los Chacayes IG in the Uco Valley and San Rafael, both in Mendoza Argentina and their potential for great Malbec and Cabernet Franc wines, with Amanda Barnes of http://southamericawineguide.com/ and http://aroundtheworldin80harvests.com/


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Great, so we are here in Enzo Bianchi vineyard in Los Chacayes. Can you tell us a little bit about this IG (Geographical Indication) and why it has been pulled together as a special sector of the Uco Valley?

For me Los Chacayes, but also especially the Valle de Uco in the first place, and then Los Chacayes, is for me one of the best areas in Argentina to make excellent wine. Because you have different characteristics here in this area. Firstly, this is a big place with a lot of rocks. The origin of the soils is alluvional origin, so in this area the grapes take a mineral component in the wines - very fresh, with a lot of fruit, with a very good production in comparison with other areas. And the other big characteristic is the altitude. Here we are more or less at 1200 metres. So with this altitude you can obtain a very good temperature during the day and night, with a very big difference (of temperature), with approximately 10 to 15 C difference, so you get a very good phenolic maturation. But not only in colours and tannin, but the floral aromas also. You get all these flavours and aromas, and these characteristics are essential for our wines. If you compare, for example, Los Chacayes with San Rafael, the difference is incredible. Because both San Rafael and the Uco Valley are great terroirs for our icon wines, but in San Rafael you can obtain a wine that when it finishes its alcohol fermentation, the mid-palate taste is excellent. It is big with sweet tannins, it's incredible. If you compare that with the wine from Los Chacayes... The wine from Los Chacayes is more nervous, with more tannin... I don't know how you say in English 'salvaje'? Wild! Wild, yeah! More Los Chacayes, no? It's a zorro, a fox in english, Los Chacayes.
So you need to work more with the wines from the Uco Valley , from Los Chacayes, because you obtain more tannin. But it's more long, with more length, and you need to work during the year in the barrel with battonage and with the lees to obtain more volume and more of that mid-palate taste. But in San Rafael you obtain that as soon as it finishes the alcoholic fermentation, here you need to put more attention and work into the wine. But for us it is... we need to pay more attention to the wine from Los Chacayes. But sincerely, the quality when you finish all the process the result is excellent.
It's worth it!
And one more question, because you are very well known for working with Cabernet Franc. Obviously Malbec is best known here but you were the first winemaker to release a premium Cabernet Franc back in 2003, why do you think Cabernet Franc has found such an affinity for the Uco Valley?
For me, Cabernet Franc... Yes. I am the first winemaker to make the first icon Cabernet Franc in the Uco Valley. Cabernet Franc for me is one of the best varieties, I am a fanatic of Cabernet Franc because it is totally different to Cabernet Sauvignon for the smell, the tannins (a very sweet wine) with a long potential. I remember I opened one bottle of the Cabernet Franc 2003 one month ago and sincerely it is incredible the evolution. And the Uco Valley and Cabernet Franc for me is an excellent partner, here Cabernet Franc has the best conditions to grow. With sweet tannins, the sun is perfect. You need to protect it a little bit from the sun, because you need to protect the aromas of the Cabernet Franc, and then the tannins are very sweet, and you have a good (ageing) potential and very good structure. And so I think, now obviously Argentina is Malbec, which is our first and most important variety in the world, but the Cabernet Franc I think has an excellent future for Argentina. Fabulous, thank you!