Wines of the Americas North to South

Since 2012, my wife Barbara and I have been fortunate to guide nine wine tasting explorations on land and at sea with groups ranging from 20 to 50-plus guests. Until this year. these cruises and land trips have been to various wine growing areas of Europe and have always centered on wines from the countries we visited or those near by as we cruised the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, the Douro River and Canal de Bourgogne through the heart of Burgundy.

Through tastings. wine-pairing lunches and dinners we’ve explored hundreds of wines and multiple growing regions throughout Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and even England with their world-class sparklers. But the cruise we just completed last month was different and a new focus demanded consideration.

Due to a series of cancellations (including a noted cruise line’s bankruptcy) and other delays our latest vinous adventure for our group of 30 was aboard Explora Journeys’ recently launched Explora I cruising the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal. Lacking the Old World heritage sites and wines we enjoyed on previous trips, I thought a fitting theme would be “Wines of the Americas North to South” as it would give our group to chance to savor some well-known varieties and growing areas along with others flying under the radar and new to most in the group.

I personally selected and sourced the wines for our two tastings and wine-pairing dinner directly from the participating wineries for the domestic selections and through primary importers for those from Mexico, Chile and Argentina. The wines were then consolidated, with the help of Valley Wine Warehouse in Napa, and shipped by refrigerated truck to Miami before being transferred to the ship.

After a couple days in Barbados, we boarded Explora I and were immediately impressed by the welcoming nature of the staff and crew as well as the beauty and convenience of the ship’s design. Each of the public rooms and restaurants were exquitely appointed and conveniently located. Our stateroom had a roomy balcony to enjoy the sites and an emphasis on environmental sustainability was consciously considered in all construction materials and service pieces.

While on the ship, I scheduled two wine tasting seminars during our days at sea and a five-course wine-pairing dinner to showcase the wines of Washington and Oregon (tasting #1), those of Parras Valley in Central Mexico, Argentina and Chile (tasting #2) and selections from California’s many diverse areas (wine-pairing dinner). In addition, we arranged a welcoming hors d’oeuvres reception with Explora’s extensive wine-by-the-glass selection just after disembarkation from Barbados and a farewell hors d’oeuvres reception with all the “leftover” wines from the tastings and dinner while docked in Panama.

Obviously, planning for these events was not simple or routine and involved the excellent cooperation of the Explora’s hospitality and management staff along with those representing the leadership of the Food & Beverage team. Planning began months in advance with Vilma Moutsatsos in the Miami office and was then supplemented onboard by many others:

Maarten Smeets, General Manager headed the team. Alex Brotsman, Food and Beverage Manager was always on hand to ensure everything was going well. Adrian Matei, Cellar Master captained the sommeliers for all events and shepherded our wines from delivery onboard to pouring. Jay Mondal and Edouard assisted Adrian for each event. Ana-Daniela Stanescu, Future Journeys Ambassador led the communication and coordination of all events. Leonardo Roldan, Guest Services Manager was constantly there for everyone’s well-being and most importantly Cindi Occhuizzo, from Explora’s Miami office accompanied us the entire way to oversee and coordinate all aspects and comfort for the cruise and all of our events.

Everything was coordinated through our travel partners Jeanne Sibley, Diane Murphy Dunn and Marina Gastaldo of Frosch Fine Wine Adventures in Sausalito, CA.

A lengthy list for sure and supported by so many more. Hats off and heartfelt thanks to all.

Tasting #1 – The wines of Washinton and Oregon – featured selections from Matteo Wines in Washington and Soter Vineyards in Oregon. Matt Loso is the winemaker and proprietor of Matteo Wines and has long been a heralded member of the Washington State winemaking community. He is also a partner in Woodinville Custom Crush where he handles winemaking for many prestigious Washington brands. From his first Bordeaux-style red blend in 1993, Matt has demonstrated his ability to produce award winning wines that always display character, breed, varietal focus and a strong sense of place.

Tony Soter is well known and highly respected for his vineyard and winemaking talents from back in the “old days” when he practiced his craft in Napa Valley with such treasured names as Spottswoode, Chapellet, Shafer, Della Valle, Araujo (now Eisele) and his own Etude before moving in 2007 to his native Oregon to pursue the excellence of Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley. In the early 1980s, I became very familiar with Tony, his wines and stylistic approach. Though he worked with many highly regarded brands as attested to by the examples above, there was never a “Soter” style associated with the wine. Tony’s ability to translate the varietal and vineyard characteristics to the finished wine remains his ultimate achievement.

While I’ve always been impressed with Matt’s talented approach with Bordeaux-style blends, I wanted to go in a slightly different direction for this tasting and decided on his 2018 Matteo Cabernet Franc. The wine was elegant yet quite bold with memorable aromatics so reminiscent of the variety. For a white we also veered from the norm to enjoy a classic expression of Matt’s 2019 Matteo Chenin Blanc whose family history reaches back to the treasured vineyards of Vouvray in France’s Loire region.

Moving south to Oregon, we relished Tony’s 2022 Soter Origins Pinot Blanc for something different than the state’s more familiar Pinot Gris. A rich wine accented by the freshness of delicate acidity and the breath of pitted fruit on the nose and palate. We traveled back to the traditional choice of Willamette Valley with the 2021 Soter Estates Pinot Noir. A complex expression of the grape and Tony’s ability to express its varietal personality with the charm of Burgundy and the grace of Oregon.

Tasting #2 took us further south to Central Mexico, Chile and Argentina while exploring a surprise growing area in Mexico’s Parras Valley along with some little known varieties and blends. Although 90% of Mexico’s wine production is from Baja California (the majority from Valle de Guadalupe) Casa Madero (founded in 1597) in the Parras Valley is the oldest winery in the Americas.

In 2019, Diana Roca Sandoval with two other partners founded Anclados in this historical growing area and produced a Proprietary Red Wine from Tempranillo, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. A unique and singular blend that caught our group by surprise with rave responses and the joy of finding something new.

From Chile, we veered away from the better known Cabernets and Merlots so familiar to fans of the country’s wines. We first tasted the 2022 J. Bouchon Pais Salvaje – a wine that was totally new to everyone. Pais is the Chilian name for the Mission grape as it is known in California and brought to the state by Junipero Serra and the Spanish missionaries in the mid-1700s.

The Spaniards also brought the grape to Chile around the same time where it existed in the background for centuries. Compared to the manicured vineyard rows (either trellised or head pruned) that we are more familiar with, J. Buchon’s Pais is grown wild up to 40 feet in height, interwoven with the branches of trees in the forest and harvested on ladders. An unusual story and a very unusual wine. We then followed the Pais with 2021 Casa Silva S7 Carménère for a bit more depth and concentration.

Carménère remains one of the eight officially authorized red varieties in Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Carménère, Gros Verdot and Saint-Macaire), but little remains there since the phylloxera scourge of the late 19th Century. It was originally brought to Chile from France around 1850 and was thought to be Merlot.

Since that time, wines were incorrectly labeled as such until the late 1980s, when ampelographers noted the difference. With this discovery several decades ago, Carménère has been well received and is now a leading variety from Chile where its future is bright given its ability to flourish in dry/hot areas in the face of climate change.

Torrontes is an indigenous white variety of Argentina known for its minerality on the palate and an expressive nose that touches on the floral/citrus notes of Riesling coupled with the characteristic spice of Gewürztraminer. A light, fresh wine that pairs beautifully with summer entertaining. But, the 2022 Susana Balbo Barrel Fermented Torrontes takes the variety another level.

Balbo founded her winey in 1999 in the Andean foothills as Argentina’s first female winemaker and the first to use barrel fermentation for Torrontes. Barrel fermentation was a sort of a counter-intuitive approach the variety’s signature freshness, but it surprisingly expanded the character of the wine and its potential culinary pairings.

Malbec is also associated with Bordeaux and its subsequent migration to the Cahors region of southwestern France. It was brought to Argentina in 1868 and is now inextricably associated with the country’s vinous image. We enjoyed the 2021 Colomé Malbec Estate from a vineyard dating back to 1854 when the then Governor’s daughter planted grapes high above Mendoza with some of the “own-rooted” (non-grafted)) vines still producing.

In 2001, Donald Hess purchased the property and began extensive vineyard re-development under the supervision of his Napa Valley Hess Collection Winemaker Randle Johnson. The vineyard’s elevation (5,700’ to 10,000’) offers extreme diurnal temperature shifts from day to night and extension of daylight hours helping in retaining acidity and enhancing ripening to achieve ideal balance, intense structure and appealing texture. An amazing wine to conclude the tasting,

Stay tuned next week for a look at our five-course wine-pairing dinner featuring the culinary excellence of Chef Travis Da Silva paired to a broad selection of wines from across California and more.