Ode to the Wine Geek

So, this post is for all the wine geeks out there, and since I could be considered a wine geek, I am super excited to share our snazzy Malbec Cloning Program with you.

The Malbec vine is a strange beast, that has a tendency to mutate quickly, and up until now nobody has attempted the painstakingly tedious process of studying all the different mutant Malbecs out there, so Malbec as a vine is kind of all over the place. The Malbec vine is such a mess that it is often mistaken for other grape varietals, especially Bonarda.

So, we started this project, seven years ago, to try and set the Malbec vine straight once and for all. Here at Team Tempus our goal is to not only to isolate the DNA of the Malbec vine, but to isolate the DNA of the best Malbec clones we can find. This means no more mutant Malbec and no more Malbec that is actually Bonarda.

We started by sourcing over 500 different ¨Malbec¨ plants from different regions of Mendoza. We planted 2 separate 2.6 ha plots with the mash of Medocino Malbecs.

After four years of patiently waiting for the vines to be mature enough to produce “studyable” fruit we started doing Agronomic analysis on the vines. So, what the hell does that mean. Well, it means this.....
1.) An Agronomist is an expert in agriculture.
2.) Analysis is the process of breaking down a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it.

The smaller parts are the following:
1.) Vigor: how much green matter does the vine produce and at what rate does it grow
2.) Production: how many bunches of fruit does the vine produce
3.) The actual size of the individual berry
4.) Spacing of the fruit on the vine

So, at first I thought we would want lots of all the above listed. A vine with lots vigor, that sounds good. How many bunches do we want, well I would guess a lot. Size of berry, big I imagine. However I was quickly corrected and for these reasons.

A vine with too much vigor or an overly thick shoot (the thickness of your thumb for example) produces a green tasting fruit, resulting in a green tasting wine. Yucky! The ideal amount of vigor is rated as medium, and the ideal thickness of the shoot is about the with of a pencil.

The ideal amount of ¨production¨ or amount of fruit per plant is rated as low. All the vines good stuff like: sugar, tannins and acids get distributed among all the plants fruit. An overly productive vine, or a vine with too many bunches produces a less concentrated fruit. Less concentrated fruit means less concentrated wine. No good!

The same basic rule goes for berry size, the bigger the berry the bigger amount of water per berry. We are looking for good concentrated fruit to make good concentrated wines.

The last analysis ¨spacing of fruit on the vine¨ is the most important of all. Why? Well, it goes as follows: when the vine is feeding its fruit it isn’t always fair. For example, sugar gets distributed to the plants fruit evenly regardless of location on the vine. Tannins however aren’t distributed with such unconditional love. The further away from the vines trunk the less tannins the fruit is going to receive. Might not seem fair but apparently tannins aren’t mobile. So, a vine with nice evenly spaced fruit will ensure a nice even balance among the bunches.

So, after all this analyzing we chose the 20 best Malbecs from the original 500 plants and the saga continues year after year with the same tests. The most exciting thing about this project so far is that we have produced our fist vintage with grapes from the experimental vines. It is called ¨Vero¨ which means ¨True¨ and cleverly is an acronym for the three grand children of the Biondolillo family at the same time. There were only 10, 000 bottles made and if you ever get to try this wine you will find that the name speaks for its self.

Everyday

Everyday, like most people I know, I jump into my car and drive to work. However, unlike most people I know, my morning drive leaves me feeling incredibly fortunate, and with summer just around the corner even more so. A huge blue sky against the snowy mountains greet me as I zip down the high way past row after row of hypnotizing vineyards. Silvery olive trees break my trance as they sway in the breeze. With my radio to keep me company I smile most Monday mornings. This morning I was feeling so lucky that I felt bad not sharing.


After my stretch of high way driving I turn down Urquiza street or what I like to call the ¨tree tunnel¨. It’s the part of my daily fairytale where I discover a magical new world full of vineyards and olive groves. The land where wineries and restaurants are around every bend, where I can smell olive oil wafting through the air, where the snow capped Andes leave me awe stricken with their beauty. This is my new world.

I arrive at the winery where I unpack all the fresh goodies I have brought, and Fernando and I create tasty dishes to share with people from all over the world. I break bread and drink wine with happy vacationers. I listen to their stories and they listen to mine.


Every time I take a sip at the winery I can see all the faces that made this fabulous drink come to life, something truly amazing I am able to share with the folks that come to visit us. I mean, how many bottles of wine have you drank and wondered how this amazing beverage got into your hands, or the opposite, how many times have you drank a bottle of wine without even taking note of more than red or white?

Tempus Alba is a smallish winery, producing about 200,000 liters per year, and is a family owned and operated affair, well excluding me and a few others, but we are such a tight team that in this case blood is almost as thick as water...well wine I guess. Cousins, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters for over three generations fill every bottle here at Tempus Alba, and every time somebody comes to visit us they get to be part of the family too, and that makes me feel like a lucky girl.

After all this gushing I have worked up a pretty good appetite so, I’m going to find myself a quite corner on the patio to reflect, enjoy this tasty pizza and a glass of Malbec Rose.

Where are all the grapes?

Well yesterday was the first day of spring, and I can tell you that the grapes are on their way. With a whisper of the summer heat to come the vines have woken up from their winter nap. Fuzzy baby buds have popped up all over the 3 hectares of experimental Malbec vines, and in a few days these buds will unravel into bright green foliage. It is truly amazing how fast the vines spring to life.
Summer in Mendoza is long and wonderful and I can feel a great season brewing. The Winebar is ready and with the new edition of Patio Tempus (our new restaurant) the terrace is going rock this year. Cool house tracks vibrate melodically and glasses filled with shades of bright pinks to deep purples catch the summer sun. Lamb burgers filled with fresh herbs, dripping with mint tzatziki are served to hungry bike riders, and tangy falafel burgers washed down by a glass of spicy syrah assure me that there are some really good times to be had here at Tempus Alba.

Not sure where to get our wines, go here and you will be able to check if Tempus Alba wines are available in your city.

Try these awesome lamb burgers at home, and if you can get your hands on a bottle of Tempus Pleno you are really in for an awesome surprise.

Patio Tempus Lamb Burger

21/2 kilos of ground lamb
4 Italian sausages
about 1 cup of fresh mint leaves (finely chopped)
about 1 cup of fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium onions grated
3 cloves of garlic grated

try not to over work the ground meat when mixing and forming these patties to avoid an overly dense patty.top with mint tzatziki, sun dried tomatoes and arugula… we make our own bun but any good quality bun will do.