With perfect timing, we arrived at the sensational O. Fournier winery in the southern part of the Valle de Uco, the cool-climate wine region about 100 km SW of Mendoza at noon. My previous visit was in September 2009, just before budburst but with plenty of snow on the Andes backdrop. It was a long-held ambition to go back in summer for the contrast in vine growth, vineyard activities and the scenery – not to mention another lot of scraps for lunch…
I think it’s fair to say that little did
RF know what sort of treat he was in for! This winery defies superlatives. The underground section is enormous, linking all facets of the production process and connecting to the restaurant (pic 4), our meeting point for the personal English tour.
The back of the main building. Under the canopy, looking from the back, with labs, mini-winery and the winemaker’s office in the suspended glass sections above the floor with the tops of the large vats visible. From the front on the main deck at the top of the seeping ramps by which the grapes are delivered to the portable crushers that are set up here during harvest. The R ramp is visible behind
RF. While harvest was in its very early stages at some wineries, that was mainly earlier material for sparkling wine. O. Fournier doesn’t do sparkling and was yet to start harvest.
The mini-winery and the laboratory. I could almost be persuaded to take up chemistry for a gig like this! The lab was on the west side, so staring at the Andes would be the view all day long.
The lab view. Chief winemaker in his cubicle… Meeting room opposite. Fairly ordinary view from the top of the ramp for the workers handling the crush…
Concrete (some inside the four massive pylons supporting the roof), stainless steel (a couple recently decorated by an artist-in-residence) and oak fermentation vats.
For anyone interested in the comparison, here’s my short TR on the 2009 Mendoza winery experience:
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....malbec-magic-but-don-65183-2.html#post1172810
IIRC, the winery was built in about 2007.