Winemakers of the Year 2021
Each Wine Club Release is special, but every year we get extra excited about our Winemaker of the Year edition. We first gave the award to Rafael Tirado in 2017, a Chilean producer who plants his vineyards in volcanic soils in the shape of a labyrinth!
Since then, we’ve highlighted an avante garde Argentine specializing in Mediterranean grapes grown at high altitude, a young Chilean man revitalizing ancient vineyards, and a Brazilian woman growing Cab Franc, Pinot Noir, and Malbec in Casablanca Valley.
This year, there are a couple of firsts. For the first time, we honor wines from Uruguay made by our dear friends Paula Pivel and Alvaró Lorenzo, who are the first couple to win the prize!
Their story as winemakers began in 1998, when they decided to transition from their jobs in finance to follow their passion project in wine. They prove that only good things happen when people are true to themselves!
Paula and Alvaro spent most of their time looking for the right soil, and micro-climate that could express what they wanted to achieve in Uruguay: wines with freshness, richness and finesse, bringing something totally new to the Uruguayan wine landscape. They accomplished this, by being the first one to plant in Sierra de la Ballena in the hills of the Maldonado region, close to the vacation hot-spot Punta del Este. We picked them as winemakers of the year as we consider them a reference of terroir driven wines, and pioneers in the Uruguayan wine landscape. We have been a fan of their wines since we got introduced to them in 2015.
Here’s Paula in her own words:
“Pioneer is a heavy and strong word, but we were actually the first to plant in Maldonado. We wanted to make fresher wines; we chose that area which is colder than the rest of Uruguay. We wanted to showcase a new terroir in Uruguay, with rocky, calcareous soils and the breeze from the Atlantic Ocean.
“We planted the Viogner to use for our blend with Tannat emulating a bit what they do in Cote Rotie. We actually never thought of making a 100% varietal wine. The Viognier took us by surprise and we loved it!
"We always looked at Bordeaux as an example when we planted for the first time. Being closer to the Atlantic Ocean and overlooking the Sauce lagoon, we knew that Cabernet Franc could work well with the fresher temperatures, and it did!"
This region is almost 8 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and you can feel the consistent sea breeze. The Maldonado region is cooler than other regions in Uruguay and their wines showcase the terroir with rocky soils and layers of limestone soils with perfect drainage. Here, Paula and Alvaró produce Uruguay's signature variety, Tannat, along with Viognier, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
As Grand Cata, we are honored to have their wines on our shelves and excited about the future of Uruguay and their wines.
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Spanish: Pionero es una palabra fuerte, pero si fuimos los primeros en plantar en Maldonado. Queríamos tener vinos más frescos y elegimos esa zona por ser más fría que el resto de Uruguay.
English: "Pioneer is a heavy and strong word, but we were actually the first to plant in Maldonado. We wanted to make fresher wines; we chose that area which is colder than the rest of Uruguay."
Spanish: Queríamos demostrar un nuevo terroir en Uruguay, con suelos rocosos, calcáreos y con la brisa del océano atlántico.
English: "We wanted to showcase a new terroir in Uruguay, with rocky, calcareous soils and the breeze from the Atlantic Ocean."
Spanish: El viognier la plantamos para hacer la mezcla con tannat, nunca pensando en hacer un vino 100% varietal. Nos el viognier nos tomó de sorpresa y nos encantó.
English: "We planted the viogner to use for our blend with tannat emulating a bit what they do in cotes rotie, We actually never thought of making a 100% varietal wine. The viognier took us by surprise and we loved it.
Spanish: Miramos siempre a Bordeaux cuando plantamos por primera vez, estamos cerca del atlántico y mirando la laguna Sauce. Sabíamos que el cabernet franc podría funcionar bien, y así fue.
English: "We always look at Bordeaux as an example when we planted for the first time. Being closer to the Atlantic Ocean and overlooking the Sauce lagoon, we knew that cabernet franc could work well with the fresher temperatures, and it did."