Interview Agustin Carrión Olivares, Barahonda

Tags

Agustin Carrión Olivares, barahonda, carro, monastrell, tranco, winemaker interview, yecla

 

Overseeing Monastrell grapes

Name: Agustin Carrión Olivares

Winery: Bodegas Barahonda

Town/Country: Yecla Spain

1. Which spot in your vineyard is the most special and why?

Campo Arriba, this is the name of an area in the north of Yecla, where the altitude is 700-800 metres above the sea level. The soil is limestone and gravel. In this area are the oldest vines, that produce very concentrate grapes with a small production but high quality.

modern winery

2. If you link the dots in your life, which experience was the most crucial relating to how you make your wine today?

The most important moment was, when the Winery Barahonda was built. Previously I was working with the same family, in the old Winery Bodegas Antonio Candela. In Barahonda the philosophy is produce quality bottled wine under D.O. Yecla.

3. What kind of music do you enjoy listening to when making wine in your cellar?

During the harvest I like listening rock music like AC/DC.

4. Name a regional dish from your area, which matches best with one of your wines.

The dishes queso frito con tomate match with the wine Carro, and arroz con caracoles match with the wine Tranco.

paella with snails

5. Name a restaurant from your recent travels around the world, which changed the way you thought about food and why?

“Mesón el Lagar de Isilla” Aranda de Duero, Burgos.  The dish “Lechazo Asado” is very tradicional in Aranda de Duero.  I was surprised with this dish, the meat has Origin Denomination of Castilla y León and this food and Ribera del Duero wines, are completely involved.

6. If your wine would die, who or what would it come back as (person/animal)?

A lion with personality, powerful and elegance.

Old vines Monastrell

 

Interview Christoph Wachter; Wachter Wiesler

Tags

Austria, Blaufrankisch, burgenland, Christoph wachter, eisenberg, wachter wiesler

Shooting star at 24 years old

Name: Christoph Wachter

Winery: Wachter-Wiesler

Town/Country: Eisenberg/Burgenland, Austria

1. Which spot in your vineyard is the most special and why?

It is a parcel named “Steinweg” (rocky path) on the Eisenberg.  It gives the most spicy and aromatic grapes and the barrel with the wine made from grapes from the Steinweg is always distinctive.

warm slate

2. If you link the dots in your life, which experience was the most crucial relating to how you make your wine today?

My practical work with Dirk Niepoort at his Quinta de Nápoles in Portugal’s Douro Valley in 2009.  It influenced my attitude towards terroir, minerality and freshness in wine.

3. What kind of music do you enjoy listening to when making wine in your cellar?

Nothing special like Mozart or so… whatever I like to hear I play in the cellar and this is mixed from rock to house, sometimes smooth, sometimes hard.

4. Name a regional dish from your area, which matches best with one of your wines.

Braised cheek from the “Zickentaler Moorochse”; these are Angus- and Galloway oxens grazing on the peatland meadows of the Zickenbach, just a few miles away. Together with my Blaufränkisch Weinberg this is a really autochthon dish!

Blaufrankisch, Austria’s answer to Pinot Noir

4. Name a restaurant from your recent travels around the world, which changed the way you thought about food and why?

The Cordobar in Berlin. A wine bar with relaxed ambience but excellent food, super service and super wines.  Easy and uncomplicated on a high level.

5. If your wine would die, who or what would it come back as (person/animal)?

I would love the idea it becomes a star in the sky….

Elegance & grace

Interview Francesco Drusian, Drusian Az. Agr.

Tags

drusian, Francesco Drusian, Italy, Prosecco, sparkling wine, valdobbiadene, veneto

3G doyen of Drusian

Name: Francesco Drusian

Winery: Drusian Francesco Az.Agr.

Town/Country: Valdobbiadene-Treviso- Italy

1. Which spot in your vineyard is the most special and why? The most

Special place for me is the Cartizze. It is unique in the whole world and it gives the upmost expression of Valdobbiadene DOCG, called Cartizze. You have to see and taste it to believe it.

2. If you link the dots in your life, which experience was the most crucial relating to how you make your wine today?

To be born here gives me the possibility to know the territory and how to take advantages of it. My purpose is to continue the research and improve the quality of the wine. Never ever forgetting the total respect of the environment.

3. What kind of music do you enjoy listening to when making wine in your cellar?

I like listening rock and pop music.

4. Name a regional dish from your area, which matches best with one of your wines.

I think that Sopressa (a typical salami) is well matched with our “Colfondo” (sur lie).

Smooth partying

5. Name a restaurant from your recent travels around the world, which changed the way you thought about food and why?

I was surprised when I ate a fish dish with Prosecco DOCG in Vino di Vino in Prague. It combined very well. They were interesting and very appreciated together.

6. If your wine would die, who or what would it come back as (person/animal)?

Playful like be a dolphin.

Extra Dry, the most favorite style of Prosecco

Viticulturist Interview Mike Wing, Two Paddocks

Tags

Central Otago, Mike Wing, new zealand, Pinot Noir, Two Paddocks, Viticulturist

Most important person at Two Paddocks

Name: Mike Wing

Winery: Two Paddocks

Town/Country: Central Otago, New Zealand

1. Which spot in your vineyard is the most special and why?

The rocky outcrop at our Last Chance Vineyard. Here there is a 360 degree view of Central Otago and it is always drenched in sun.

2. If you link the dots in your life, which experience was the most crucial relating to how you make your wine today?

Growing up on a farm and learning the benefits of a diverse production system where health and quality come from the ground up.

3. What kind of music do you enjoy listening to when making wine in your cellar?

Anything as long as it is loud!!

4. Name a regional dish from your area, which matches best with one of your wines.

Fresh Bluff Oysters are a seasonal treat we enjoy here in the south of New Zealand and they are great with our Two Paddocks Riesling.

Old school car, in an old school vineyard

5. Name a restaurant from your recent travels around the world, which changed the way you thought about food and why?

Fresh is best for me so the best experience I have had is buying prawns straight from the boat in Mozambique.

6. If your wine would die, who or what would it come back as (person/animal)?

Definitely a house cow, the gentle provider that is in her own right powerful and wise.

Leafy kind of Pinot Noir, delicious