There have been a few ornithological associations with wines listed in these pages and today we have another. This is not the reason for its selection and I didn't discover the connection until I was trying to find out anything of interest about the producers, but turns out that Zorzal is the Spanish name for the Song Thrush. A bit like Merlot being the French for Blackbird. Unlike the Merlot, Zorzal also translates as 'dupe' or 'mug' (as in stupid person) and even as 'ingenious', so take your pick.
I like to think it has been chosen for the last of these three translations and I will explain in minute. For now, let me introduce:
Week Z (2019) Zorzal ZZ, Tunpungato, Argentina. 2017. M&S £9.50.
It is now a couple of weeks over eleven years since The One and I moved into our family home and we are very fond of the place. We chose it for a number of reasons, one of which was that it was a little unusual. It had been designed as a small, modern 'farmhouse' using well-thought out use of natural light and one particular material that would have been quite on-trend and the very start of the 1960's. (A very significant moment in history for personal reasons, too.)
The material in question is concrete. Something of an acquired taste architecturally as evidenced by comments from well-meaning friends when they first examined our choice of home. For example, 'do you think they left all this showing because they ran out of funds?' and 'are you going to plaster over all the unfinished bits?' No and no. It's brutalism in a domestic context; go and read about it.....sigh.
Anyway, concrete may not be the first material that comes to mind when you think of winemaking, but it does play a significant role in this case. The winemakers at Zorzal, the Michelini brothers, have chosen not to ferment their juice in either oak barrels nor stainless steel vats, but in concrete / cement 'eggs'. The brothers are pioneers in the use of this technology amongst their South American vinicultural community and seem to be proud of that fact. The use of concrete eggs, based on ancient amphora, is first credited to Michel Chapoutier in the Rhone valley and has since been adopted by winemakers across the globe, especially the trendier ones. It seems that the egg shape allows more of the developing wine to be kept in contact with the dead yeast cells and that the natural convection currents generated by the act of fermentation as it heats up the wine provide an automatic 'battonage' effect, which is where under more traditional methods the winemaker would stir the lees to assist with the development of complexity and texture in the wine. In addition to this the insulating properties of concrete help to maintain a stable temperature for fermentation without the need for expensive cooling systems. It also allows just the right amount of oxygen to permeate the egg and help the wine soften tannins and develop complexity.
The Zorzal winery was established in 2007 and has 70 hectares of mixed soil types 4,500 feet up in the Andean foothills, which makes this the highest vineyard area in Mendoza. Here they grow Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc alongside the Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon that appear in equal proportion on this bottle. The two varieties are picked by hand and vinified separately before being brought together in the final blend.
The resulting wine is rich, smooth and fruity with a spicy-herb finish. At the price it is a very decent wine.
I like to think it has been chosen for the last of these three translations and I will explain in minute. For now, let me introduce:
Week Z (2019) Zorzal ZZ, Tunpungato, Argentina. 2017. M&S £9.50.It is now a couple of weeks over eleven years since The One and I moved into our family home and we are very fond of the place. We chose it for a number of reasons, one of which was that it was a little unusual. It had been designed as a small, modern 'farmhouse' using well-thought out use of natural light and one particular material that would have been quite on-trend and the very start of the 1960's. (A very significant moment in history for personal reasons, too.)
The material in question is concrete. Something of an acquired taste architecturally as evidenced by comments from well-meaning friends when they first examined our choice of home. For example, 'do you think they left all this showing because they ran out of funds?' and 'are you going to plaster over all the unfinished bits?' No and no. It's brutalism in a domestic context; go and read about it.....sigh.
Anyway, concrete may not be the first material that comes to mind when you think of winemaking, but it does play a significant role in this case. The winemakers at Zorzal, the Michelini brothers, have chosen not to ferment their juice in either oak barrels nor stainless steel vats, but in concrete / cement 'eggs'. The brothers are pioneers in the use of this technology amongst their South American vinicultural community and seem to be proud of that fact. The use of concrete eggs, based on ancient amphora, is first credited to Michel Chapoutier in the Rhone valley and has since been adopted by winemakers across the globe, especially the trendier ones. It seems that the egg shape allows more of the developing wine to be kept in contact with the dead yeast cells and that the natural convection currents generated by the act of fermentation as it heats up the wine provide an automatic 'battonage' effect, which is where under more traditional methods the winemaker would stir the lees to assist with the development of complexity and texture in the wine. In addition to this the insulating properties of concrete help to maintain a stable temperature for fermentation without the need for expensive cooling systems. It also allows just the right amount of oxygen to permeate the egg and help the wine soften tannins and develop complexity.
The Zorzal winery was established in 2007 and has 70 hectares of mixed soil types 4,500 feet up in the Andean foothills, which makes this the highest vineyard area in Mendoza. Here they grow Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc alongside the Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon that appear in equal proportion on this bottle. The two varieties are picked by hand and vinified separately before being brought together in the final blend.
The resulting wine is rich, smooth and fruity with a spicy-herb finish. At the price it is a very decent wine.
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