Viña Alicia - Cuarzo, Petit Verdot, 2006, Argentina
I was delighted to pick up this small parcel of 2006 Petit Verdot from Argentina made by a superb producer. Petit Verdot (“peh-tee vur-doe”) is a full-bodied red wine that originates in southwestern France (in Bordeaux). It is highly desired as a blending grape in red Bordeaux blends because of its plentiful colour, tannin and floral aromas of violet. Because Petit Verdot is such a bold wine, it is commonly added in less than 10% of most wine blends. Here it is produced (and more commonly in experimental wine growing regions) as a pretty much a single varietal wine.
I expected this to be big - very big and it is but there is a surprising underlying elegance and youthfulness to the wine. Alicia Arizu established Viña Alicia in 1996. With 25 years of research in both viticulture and winemaking, she dedicated herself to creating Mendoza's most elegant wines from vineyards that have been in her family for 3 generations in Mendoza's Lujan de Cuyo.
Viña Alicia has two vineyards: "San Alberto" and "Viña Alicia" in Lujan de Cuyo. The geographical location, the type of soil and the regional climate place these lands among the most wanted areas in Mendoza. The climate is Mediterranean, dry and the scarce rainfalls (180 mm, annual average) add up to the ideal conditions for vine growing. The soil origin is alluvial and has a loam-silty to a sandy texture. Water for irrigation comes from the snow break in the high mountains of the Los Andes mountain range, through a unique irrigation system.
The oak is superbly weighted against the complex fruit. As it starts to open out the experience becomes more and more enjoyable. This has introduced me to a new style of wine from Argentina that I will be looking out for. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!