O. Fournier is a gravity flow winery owned by a Spaniard and his Argentine wife. They also own a primary property in Ribera del Duero, Spain along with two smaller properties in Chile (Maule and San Antonio valleys).
Pictured below is the main facility in the Uco Valley (2 hours south of Mendoza - middle of nowhere):
It has extensions on two sides which house the restaurant and primary barrell storgage facilities. With all three being connected via walkways in the underground cavern. This is a three level facility. Grapes are trucked to the first level and processed into the stainless steel tanks for fermentation. The tanks are on the second level (at ground level) and then the barrels are underground. No pumping at all.
As far as the wines go, they produce over 1 million liters of wine. They have four labels; Urban, B Crux, Alpha Crux, and O Fournier. The Urban label is their 'basico' brand (this is the common term used by all the wineries in the region for the introductory line which accounts for a large majority of the bottles produced). Urban is a fun brand which produces 6 different wines. Naturally, the owner being a Spaniard, Tempranillo plays a large roll in the first three labels. In terms of varietals produced by O. Fournier: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Torrontes (national white), Tempranillo, Syrah, and Malbec. They also grow Merlot and Cabernet for blending purposes.
For the Urban line, we tried the Malbec 2007 which was fabulous (USD6):
For those who read the details from my initial post (Lima), this wine is a classic example of a fruit forward (not overpowering and with a hint of caramel), inexpensive, and easy to drink Malbec. We were told you can find this at Costco. So for all you Costco lovers (and haters), this may be a reason to make a visit to the local store.
Also in our tasting we had the B Crux Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and the B Crux Blend (Tempranillo, Malbec, Merlot, Syrah) 2003 (USD14):
Think white grapefruit for the Sauvignon Blanc. We found this to be a very exciting white for a hot summer day.
The Blend was still a bit tight. We also found it green at the end of the palette but with a hint of cotton candy. This could mean that they picked the Tempranillo (60% of the blend) a bit too early for this vintage. Wine Spectator gave it a 91. We do not agree.
The last wines in our tasting were two from the Alpha Crux label; Blend 2002 and Malbec 2006 (USD28):
Blend was excellent. Round and full bodied. Flavor profile was tobacco and red cherry. Wine Spectator gave it a 93 and it was also #86 of the 2006 Top 100. For the value, get it now. Still has plenty of legs on it to last 5 more years.
Malbec was good. Not fruit forward but still young. It was light on the palate but with plenty of tannins. This wine sucked the moisture from our mouths.
We did not try the O. Fournier line. This is an exclusive line, very limited (the owner controls every single sale), and the prices jump. The focus is Syrah, of which I am a huge fan, but we really wanted wines to drink now and I felt like these would need more time in the cellar given our experience with the B and Alpha Crux wines.
Anyway, our tour was excellent. We were fortunate enough to have our friends at Peay put us in touch with the US distributor which, in turn, got us a personal invite from the chairmain of the group (Jose Manuel Ortega) and a private tour. The tour was handled by Eugenia (tourism manager).
After the tour, we had our best meal in the Mendoza region. This was compliments of Jose's wife who is a trained chef. There were 5 courses paired expertly with their wines; Urban Torrontes for steak tartar, B Crux Sauvignon Blanc for "sobrasda" wrapped in philo, Urban Malbec for vichissoise - potato and leek soup, and B Crux and Alpha Crux wines with the pickled rabbit (pictured below) or risotto with beet roots. [Kara's addition: Following the main course, we were served an excellent sorbet made from their Torrontes wine followed by a deconstructed dessert that consisted of a scoop of chocolate ganache, a piece of chocolate brownie/cake, a small glass of goat cheese cream and a few dots of tabasco on the plate. Sounds like a weird combo but the flavors were a perfect combo. The goat cheese cream tasted like melted goat cheese, which added the perfect amount of cream and salt to the sweet ganache and brownie. The tabasco added some pleasant heat but the flavor was a bit off. I think that wasabi would have been a better addition as it would add the heat without the flavor]. We paid USD94 (for the both of us) for this meal and tasting combined!
One thing I failed to mention. This visit was on Dagny's 1st birthday (February 9th). She had a great time. We were on the first level of the winery when the Sauvignon Blanc grapes came in from the harvest so her cake was a plate of grapes.
Recap:
Winery
Uco Valley, Gravity Flow, MUST VISIT
Wines
Urban Malbec 2007, USD6, QPR Very High
Urban Torrontes 2009, USD6, QPR High
B Crux Sauvignon Blanc 2008, USD14, QPR High
B Crux Blend 2003, USD14, QPR Mid to Low
Alpha Crux Blend 2002, USD28, QPR Very High (cellar worthy)
Alpha Crux Malbec 2006, USD28, QPR Mid to High (needs more time)
What we bought to drink
Urban Malbec 2007
B Crux Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Alpha Crux Blend 2002
Restaurant
5 course meal plus wine pairings, USD94 (per couple), QPR Very High
Contacts
