Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All Vintages
Bodega Aniello is a small winery looking to explore the value of the ancient winemaking tradition of Patagonia, while keeping contact with the Italian roots of its members. The winery’s CEO, Maria Cruz De Angelis, is a descendant of Raffaele De Angelis, an Italian who made wine in Sorrento a century earlier.
Aniello’s wines fully channel the character of Patagonia in general and Rio Negro in particular. Geographically dynamic, Argentina’s cool climate Patagonia region is a combination of jagged mountains, plateaus, snow, rivers, plains and sea. The eastern bank of the upper Río Negro region is carpeted by sandy, loamy soils. The constant breezes and low relative humidity help keep the Aniello vineyards pest-free. The resulting wines are considered more elegant and refined than many of the more common, warm-weather wines from the Mendoza area.
One of the most southerly regions on the globe for fine wine production, Patagonia has experienced extraordinary vineyard expansion since the early 2000s.
Patagonia vineyards occupy the lower foothills of the Andes at 1,000 to 1,600 feet. Here cold air drops at night from incredibly steep elevations—the Andes reach well over 15,000 feet in this zone—a phenomenon that produces drastic diurnal shifts. Cold nights contrasted with hot summer days produce grapes with striking color, full ripeness, great finesse and aromatic intensity.
Favored for its luxury brands, the Patagonia wine growing region of Argentina focuses on a diverse array of international varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillón and Viognier among the white grapes, and Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon for reds.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”