2019-C Wapisa Pinot Noir, Patagonia, Argentina (750ml)
About the Icons
A Monthly Wine Club Selection
Bright ruby red. Delicate aromas of ripe, red fruit mingled with a hint of crushed rose petals. The palate is both bright and silky, and evokes a slice of freshly baked cherry pie in the glass. This delicious, medium-light bodied red is delicately balanced with juicy acidity and soft, graceful tannins.
Wapisa was founded eight years ago in Patagonia by Argentinian wine rock-star Patricia Ortiz, president of the Fincas Patagónicas group, and is the newest of her three wineries. Originally a nephrologist from Buenos Aires, Ortiz decided to convert her passion for wine into a completely new career; and in the early 2000s, together with her husband, bought their first vineyard in Tupungato. Ortiz then acquired the struggling Tapiz winery from Kendall-Jackson in 2003. “This is when things changed from a hobby to something real,” she says. “I had to go back to school to study management because being a doctor offered no help in this business.” Today, Bodega Tapiz is known for its high-elevation wines from the San Pablo subregion of Tunuyán in the Uco Valley. Ortiz’s second project, Zolo, is a more traditional value line that sources grapes from Mendoza’s warmer Agrelo subzone. Located in the San Javier, Rio Negro region of Patagonia, Wapisa is just 25 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and is the only winery situated in this unique coastal terroir. Wapisa, which means “whale” in the indigenous language, produces energetic wines that a reflect the region’s cool, windy terroir and the nearby ocean. Made from 100% sustainably farmed Pinot Noir from the Finca Los Acantilados estate. The grapes were hand-harvested and underwent a pre-maceration cold-soak for five days to extract color and aromas. The must was then fermented in stainless-steel tanks for approximately 8 days. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged for 8 months in oak barrels.