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Viños 1750, Tannat

Other, Other 2017 (750mL)
Regular price$32.00
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Viños 1750, Tannat

When we recently re-acquainted ourselves with this unforgettable wine, it came with a pointed suggestion as to when to offer it: August 6th, the anniversary date of Bolivia’s independence from Spain (declared in 1925). But while it was fortuitous that we tasted and acquired it when we did, we would have showcased this 2017 Tannat anyway—because it’s a wine you need to know about. Nestled in an “elbow” of the Andes north of the border with Argentina, Bolivia’s Samaipata Valley is a new wine frontier for most everyone, except of course the many people growing grapes there, who draw on centuries of winemaking history in some of the highest-elevation vineyards in the world.


The name of today’s wine, “1750,” is the altitude—in METERS—of the vineyard it is sourced from. The grape variety is Tannat, which, like Carmenère in Chile and Malbec in Argentina, has become relatively obscure in its French homeland but found a glorious new expression in Bolivia (not to mention Uruguay, where it has become the signature red-wine variety). What I said about the 2016 edition of this powerhouse wine applies equally to this ’17: The intense luminosity at such dizzying heights results in a red of immense extraction and power—ripe and rich, but blessed with a cool-climate freshness at the same time. If your only frame of reference for Tannat (if you have one at all) are the rustic, often bitingly tannic reds of French appellations such as Madiran, this one is a more luscious, rounded version—without sacrificing the brooding, dark-fruited, deeply earthy allure of Tannat. Lovers of big reds from Bordeaux’s Left Bank, from Mendoza in Argentina, and from Cornas in the Rhône will all appreciate the thunderous bass line of deliciousness on offer here. This may sound like a throwaway line but, trust me, it’s the truth: You’ve never seen anything like this!


The creator of 1750, Francisco Roig, came to the US at 17 to stay with an aunt in Washington, D.C. and learn English. He wound up going to college here, then getting an MBA, then meeting a French woman (now his wife) who introduced him to the wide world of wine. Wanting to get into business in his native Bolivia, he took correspondence courses at UC Davis and began researching Bolivia’s assorted wine regions, doing extensive climate and soil studies in each. He originally considered the broad Tarija Valley, which runs down to the Argentine border in southern Bolivia (and is also the country’s most populous wine appellation), but eventually drifted further north, to the Samaipata Valley, which is not far from Santa Cruz—now one of Bolivia’s most modern cities but also one that is positioned near a climatic “frontier.” Situated right where the Andes range makes a turn to the northwest, Samaipata is effectively the point at which a cool, “four-season” climate gives way to a tropical one. “Once you get a little north of there,” Roig explained, “you’ll find coffee all the way to Mexico.” 



Attracted to this viticultural frontier, and equipped with a small amount of investment capital, he and his business partner Peregrín Ortiz planted eight hectares of vineyards in 2007, on hillside sites with soils of schist and sandstone interspersed with sand, clay, and gravel. He took his climate and soil research on Samaipata and compared it to Old and New World regions alike, finding the greatest similarities in the “moderate to cool parts of France, especially the Atlantic side.” Tannat, the signature red grape of southwest France, was one of several French varieties he chose to plant, and it flourished. “With the altitude we have, plus the fact that it is a cool, windswept region, we are getting amazing results with Tannat,” Roig exclaims. “We’re able to get full phenolic ripeness while maintaining great acidity.” The image on the wine’s label is a depiction of a native woman of the Guaraní tribe—one of the only tribes in the Americas not to be conquered by the Spaniards, and one in which women were warriors alongside the men (the 1750 winery, by the way, is run by a woman named María Eldy).



The sight of that unforgettable label caused a stir around SommSelect headquarters, and the ’17 lived up to our high expectations: This is one of those beefy, muscular, extracted red wines that also manages to show surprising lift and freshness—like a 300-pound pro football lineman who works on his agility by taking ballet. Roig ferments the wine only in stainless steel, so it is all about fruit purity and mineral expression. In the glass, it’s an opaque purple-black extending all the way to the rim, with tremendous viscosity evidenced by the slow-moving tears coating the sides of the glass. Aromas of cassis, blueberries, mulberries, and violets mingle with more savory hints of leather, rock dust, and wild herbs. It is full-bodied for sure, but its tannins, while firm, have nowhere near the ferocity of some of the Tannats of southwest France, like Madiran (much like Argentine Malbecs are typically less bitingly tannic than the Malbecs of Cahors). There are surely kindred qualities between this wine and some of its Argentine cousins, but there are also a few nods to polished, powerful Bordeaux reds as well. Decant it about 45 minutes before serving at 60 degrees in Bordeaux stems with a well-charred ribeye steak. If you really want to get authentic, check out the attached recipes, but either way—get yourself a taste of this fascinating wine!
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