Winemaker Notes
Pair Grand Mère with beef wellington, tortellini in broth, or Asian dishes such as spiced pork, tempura shrimp and vegetables, or sweet & sour sauce.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Sliced mushrooms, cranberries, sour cherries, lemons, dried flowers and oyster shells on the nose. Medium-bodied, fresh and vibrant with tight, seamless tannins. Salty, mineral undertones. Serious pinot.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Grand Mère Pinot Noir is a single-vineyard Pinot Noir from vines planted in the Domingo Vineyard, which is cooler than the one used for Grand Père, at 1,120 meters in altitude in Villa Bastías in Tupungato by the river. The Domingo Vineyard has a lot of stones, but the warmth is compensated by a southern exposure. The wine has moderate ripeness and alcohol, 13.5%, and a delicate profile, but it shows the effect of the warmer year. The oaking is neat, but the imprint of the year in Pinot is quite high; it's quite transparent, also with the soils. It has a varietal profile, clean and harmonious, with spicy flavors and fine tannins.
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.”
With a winning combination of cool weather, high elevation and well-draining alluvial soils, it is no surprise that Mendoza’s Uco Valley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in Argentina. Healthy, easy-to-manage vines produce low yields of high-quality fruit, which in turn create flavorful, full-bodied wines with generous acidity.
This is the source of some of the best Malbec in Mendoza, which can range from value-priced to ultra-premium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay also perform well here.