Vines of Mendoza – Part 2 – The Carmelo Patti Experience

Tuesday, April 15th marked our adventure to the southern Luján valley for a visit to the Catena Zapata winery. After our Angélica Zapata unguided wine tasting, we got back into our small rental car and headed towards Mendoza. We took the back roads up north to the main plaza of the village of Luján (about 15 minutes south of the city of Mendoza) and ate a typical Argentine lunch of milanesa – steak that has been pounded flat, breaded and then baked or fried. We were borderline wined out. On Monday we had 9 wine tastings at 2 vineyards, 3 or 4 full glasses of wine at lunch, and 5 or 6 small, wine tasting glasses at the Vines of Mendoza. There we were on Tuesday afternoon, debating about whether we wanted to go to one more vineyard after the Catena Zapata premium wine tour experience. I do not remember exactly what we discussed, but I do not think I would be far off when I write that we debated what we could possibly learn by visiting another vineyard. I know, at least, that I was thinking that.

Remember that the night before, Sarah and Tara had chatted up Pedro and Pablo and one of them had jotted down the name Carmelo Patti, a small vineyard in Luján. Sarah and Tara agreed that it would be worth it to visit one more bodega, and since this one came recommended we shouldn’t pass up the opportunity. We reached a consensus and headed off towards Carmelo’s.

When we found the address listed for Carmelo Patti’s Bodega on Avenida San Martin in Luján, we were taken aback that there were no signs, just a gravel drive with warehouses on both sides. As we pulled around back, we thought we had the wrong address as an older man with white hair and a cordless telephone came out to say hello. He told us to park the car and that he would be with us in a couple of minutes. There were no gates, no guards, no pomp or circumstance like we found at the other 3 vineyards. After waiting a few minutes at the doorway of the warehouse, the white haired gentleman introduced himself as Carmelo. He wanted to officially welcome us to his bodega and was thrilled to talk about wine.

And so our tour began at one of the most intimate bodegas we visited in Mendoza. For the next 40 minutes Carmelo showed us around his small facility, talked about his philosophy for making wine, showed us how everything was done by himself with the help of a handful of workers. He showed us his old school concrete tanks with their epoxy type finish where his wine ferments, he described how he thinks aging wine in oak barrels is silly and ruins the taste of wine, he showed us how he inspects every bottle that he sells, how his labels are applied and even how he packs up his boxes for shipping. Carmelo showed us all of this and within 30 minutes, I think it is fair to say that we all fell in love with this man.

Looking back it is hard for me to imagine that a winemaker like Carmelo Patti exists in Mendoza. We saw a number of giant bodegas, each with their hundreds of thousands of dollars of investments in stainless steel tanks, their pipes and hoses and automated processes, their French oak barrels for 800 Euros a piece, and their elaborate tasting rooms with fireplaces and modern art and exposed brick buildings. It is hard to believe that in the middle of Mendoza, this epicenter of the Argentine wine industry, that there live people like Carmelo that make better wine that is hand crafted.

So as he told us how he does not grow his own grapes (contracts out with 3 growers year after year), how he does not believe in aging his wine in oak (he prefers aging solely in bottles), and how, in fact, he has too much space and too many wine tanks (he leases out the space to larger producers), we stood there in his warehouse, in front of his tasting table with his wines, both labeled and unlabeled, in absoluter awe. To think that he pays such attention to the craft of his wine and still has time to give tours to people like us. Amazing!

We tasted his wine and loved every line. He even let us try his premium blend. We each bought bottles and as quickly as the next day, regretted that we didn’t buy more. This was the beauty of The Vines of Mendoza – the focus of attention to winemakers who are craftsmen and craftswomen. Without the Vines, we probably never would have heard of Carmelo Patti, much less visited his bodega. And so, that afternoon, we promised ourselves we would return to the wine bar.

We each had a glass of Malbec and then had a celebratory toast to Mendoza, the Vines and winemakers like Carmelo with a glass of his champagne.

2005 Malbec
Gimenez Rilli Cepas de Familia vineyard.

Paul: smokey, spicy, rich, chocolate, oaky bouquet. Slight tannin, rounded taste.
Sarah: brown, dusty aroma, smells like a steakhouse, hard to describe flavor, but excellent and very drinkable.

Espumante
Carmelo Patti
Extra Brut 2005

Excellent and dry with honey overtones