Decanter World Wine AwardsGaucho Restaurants and Chapel Down to produce Malbec
- Tuesday 29 March 2011
The grapes that the Gaucho Restaurant Group and Kent winery Chapel Down are using have been grown in Mendoza and will be vinified in England.
Some 2100 kilos of old vine Malbec grapes have just been picked at one of the Gaucho’s own vineyards in Mendoza under the supervision of Gaucho restaurants’ wine director Phil Crozier, and Chapel Down chief Frazer Thompson.
The grapes were packed in chilled 8kg boxes for the transatlantic flight to Heathrow via Buenos Aires.
When the grapes land at Heathrow, they will be picked up by a refrigerated van and taken to the Chapel Down winery in Kent, where they will be vinified.
About 2000 bottles will be produced which will go on sale next year at both Chapel Down and Gaucho restaurants.
The idea is the brainchild of organisation Wines of Argentina to tie in with World Malbec Day on April 17.
‘No-one has ever done this before, so it’s an exciting and serious winemaking project that we have put together with the Gaucho and Chapel Down. It could be the first of many’.
On top of the UK partnership, Wines of Argentina has also organised another crushing in New York with the Malbec grapes coming from one of winemaker Mauricio Lorca’s top vineyards. From there the wines will be transported to the City Winery in NYC where the wine will be made.
So far, no name has been given to the wines which will both be released on World Malbec Day 2012.
Have your say!
Willy Hancock
April 01 13:08
si..esta es una buena chiste de abril 1er..felicitaciones..you had me 100%
Willy Hancock
April 01 12:27
¨¨brain-dead-child´´!
..you have just thrown a lot of non-egg in the face of all food/wine miles projects & of course as for bloody malbec day. well why not shoot yourself in the foot at the same time. if you have one left. obviously another argentine-anglo (in that order) success story!..if you need 2000 pastic corks, hay, i know a guy.
John Radford
April 01 11:54
I was nearly fooled by this for a moment! The result, of course, would not legally have been 'wine' but 'made wine', like the British wines made from Cyprus grape concentrate - think QC, VP etc.!
Not wound up
April 01 06:53
premature april 1st or just plain stupid? Perhaps someone should approach Chateau La Tour and ask them to produce liebfraumilch? :-)