Two from Mexico/Baja California touted by Jancis

O

Oswaldo Costa

Oswaldo Costa
Jancis Robinson recently wrote a positive piece on Mexican wines in which she singled out winemaker Hugo dAcosta of Casa de Piedra/Bodegas Paralelo as noteworthy. Jancis was impressed with his coinage of the term "contextual wines," meaning those that not only complement indigenous foods but also reflect the overall culture. Not sure what Jancis finds so novel in that, but she goes on to suggest that such concepts neutralize tasting notes that evaluate wines, well, out of context. So, if I like it, fine, but if I dont, maybe the context wasn't right.

Separately, a good friend relayed me these two bottles a few months ago on behalf of the owner, who she knows. Labels say they were made by Casa de Piedra. Nice coincidence. We tried them on successive nights. Each was decanted for an hour.

Ensamble Colina Ba I Baja California 13.5%
Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 40%, Petit Syrah 5%, Zinfandel 5%. Smells modern, i.e., jammy plums, toast, coffee, and eucalyptus. Dense, high extraction, sweet and syrupy, too much for my palate. Acidity is considerable and pleasantly mouth puckering, but tastes separate from fruit, as if added to the must. Tastes riper and is slightly hotter than I would have expected, given the posted alcohol level.

Ensamble Arenal Ba II Baja California 13.3%
Merlot 50%, Cabernet Sauvignon 40%, Petit Syrah 5%, Barbera 5%. A little bit of heat, with plums, molasses and eucalyptus. Thick and chewy, syrupy, more sweet than acid, the acidity feeling separate. Nice coffee-style finishing bitterness. Not surprisingly, extremely similar to the Colina.

These wines are definitely not my style. Without context, I can't determine to what extent their profile is a stylistic choice or is mandated by climate, which must be hot and conducive to excessive ripeness and compensatory acidification. I found little about these wines on the net and the site on the label, www.paralelo.com, is inoperative.
 
I have some cork dork friends who tried some Mexican wines and liked them a lot.
Odd how Mexico can get it right and Temecula can't . . .
 
Oswaldo, when I last tasted these wines a few years ago, I noticed the gloppy density and elevated acidity but what really stood out to me was an underlying layer of saline to the wines. I asked about it and apparently, "context" in judging the wine requires developing an appreciation of Hugo d'Acosta's ability to make potable wine at all from this soil. The saltiness reminded me of some of the single-vineyard bottlings I've tasted from the drought-impacted sections of the Barossa Valley.

The lack of water there, combined with a decades-long overreliance on irrigation has led to the soil in some parts of the Barossa to become adobe-like. This is exactly what they have to deal with in the region in Baja where the Casa de Piedra is located. At least in South Australia they can blend the mineralized juice with wine from nearby (but unaffected) vineyards and make a wine where the saline isn't so noticeable, but in Baja they don't have such an option, because all of the soil is similar.

I found the Casa de Piedra wines interesting but very expensive for their quality. I've also heard that this area was hit particularly hard by the earthquake a few days ago and that most of the roads will need to be rebuilt. This can't be good for the tourism industry, not to mention the winery's ability to get wine in and out of the area.

-Eden (if it's not one thing, it's another)
 
Thanks for the context, Eden. Aside from the obvious question of why grow something in ungifted terrain (with an answer other than making $), which we can maybe set aside, I was wondering if you could say a bit more about this intriguing relationship between irrigation and salinity (I assume they use sweet water to irrigate, but that's maybe irrelevant to what you're saying). Andean vineyards are irrigated too, but I've never noticed any particular salinity there.

Oswaldo (now I feel bad for posting a negative review when they are probably in a catastrophic state)
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
a bit more about this intriguing relationship between irrigation and salinity
Click to expand...

It's nearly universal in irrigated deserts. The fresh water still has salts in it, and these stay behind as the irrigation water evaporates. If you have limited water, limited rain, and so on, they can accumulate to levels that cause big problems.
 
Hmm, so it must be a constant in Chilean and Argentine wine too. I'll look out for that, instead of being so focused on sensing if the damn acidity is natural.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Hmm, so it must be a constant in Chilean and Argentine wine too. I'll look out for that, instead of being so focused on sensing if the damn acidity is natural.
Click to expand...
Depends, of course, on how long they've been irrigating with what water, nature of soil, climate and etc. Wouldn't go quite as far as "constant."
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Hmm, so it must be a constant in Chilean and Argentine wine too. I'll look out for that, instead of being so focused on sensing if the damn acidity is natural.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't most of the water in Chile come from the Andes and if I remember it's mountain sourced water also in the Argentine. I have a brother inlaw who has a degree in agronomy who used to run the petro chem division of Union Oil Co in El Cento which is in the Coachella valley. I remember not in detail but the fact of the problem of the salt accumulation from the water used to irrigate from the Colorado river.
I had money invested at times in various crops in the valley. Oh my, things can go wrong being a farmer at times.
 
Makes sense, Lou, I'll see if I can find out what the residual salt of melted snow might be in the Andes. We are back to that discussion about elements in the soil finding their way, more or less directly, into the wine.
 
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