Cellar Door Imports

IN 1995 ALBERTO ANTONINI, THE NOW FAMOUS TUSCAN WINEMAKER, AND ANTONIO MORESCALCHI, A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR, VISITED THE BURGEONING WINE AREAS OF SOUTH AMERICA. THEY TOURED BOTH SIDES OF THE ANDES AND WERE IMPRESSED BY THE VINEYARDS THRIVING IN THE HIGH ALTITUDE AND DRY CLIMATE OF MENDOZA. THE NATURE OF THE REGION, AND ITS VITICULTURAL TRADITION, ESTABLISHED BY EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS IN PAST CENTURIES IMPRESSED THEM. THEY RETURNED TO TUSCANY CONVINCED OF THE UNEXPLORED POTENTIAL OF MALBEC, A GRAPE THAT HAD A STRONG LOCAL TRADITION BUT WAS LARGELY IGNORED AND MISUNDERSTOOD. THE TWO YOUNG ITALIANS SAW THE REGION AS A PLACE WHERE TRADITIONAL VITICULTURAL VALUES AND UNBLEMISHED TERROIR COULD BE REINVIGORATED WITH A CAREFUL WINEMAKING APPROACH, TAKING THE RISK OF BETTING ON A GRAPE WITH AN UNPROVEN RECORD. AGAINST ALL ODDS AND LOCAL ADVICE, THEY DECIDED TO BECOME TERROIR SPECIALISTS AND START A MALBEC ONLY WINERY IN MENDOZA JOINED BY TWO FRIENDS AND BUSINESS PARTNERS. ATTILIO PAGLI, A RENOWNED TUSCAN WINEMAKER WITH TWO 100 POINT WINES, AND CARLOS VAZQUEZ, AN ARGENTINE AGRONOMIST, WHO WORKED 20 YEARS WITH THE EARLY CATENA GROUP, PLANTING NEW VARIETIES, DEVELOPING NEW VINEYARD SITES AND CONTRIBUTING GREATLY TO THE QUALITATIVE CHANGE OF EARLY ARGENTINE VITICULTURE. THEY PURCHASED 206 HECTARES (530 ACRES) OF VINEYARDS IN THE RURAL TOWNSHIP OF LUJAN DE CUYO. WHEN THE VINEYARDS WERE PLANTED IN 1996, WORKERS FACED A STIFF ALTERCATION WITH THE LOCAL ANT (HORMIGA) COLONIES. THE “ITALIANOS” NEWCOMERS REFUSED TO POISON THE ANTS AND THE WORKERS’ JOKE WAS THAT THE ANTS WERE THE REAL OWNERS OF THE PLACE, SINCE THEY WERE ALLOWED TO ROAM THE VINEYARD AT WILL AND FEED ON THE PRECIOUS VINES. IN ARGENTINA THE SAYING: “A JOB FOR ANTS” DESCRIBES A TASK REQUIRING A HUMBLE, PATIENT AND EXTENDED TEAMWORK. EMBRACING (RATHER THAN FIGHTING) THIS FIRST CULTURAL TEST, THE TEAM DECIDED THAT THE VENTURE HAD TO BE NAMED AFTER THE HARD-WORKING, TEAM-PLAYING, PERSISTENT HORMIGA.