Passionate Wines Via Revolucionaria Bonarda Pura 2020
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Other Vintages
2019-
Parker
Robert
Passionate Wines is the brainchild of Matias Michelini. He is the winemaker, agronomist, and Grand Poobah of his winery named Passionate Wines. Matias strives to make experimental wines that express terroir. These wines are low production and are drawn from multiple inspirations, regions, and styles. The Via Revolucionaria wines are single vineyard, unconventional wines, fermented with native yeast. He produces a skin macerated Torrontes “Brutal”, an unfiltered Semillon “Hulk”, and a carbonic macerated and fermented Bonarda “Pura”. The Montesco wines are small production wines that focus on place and varietals. Matias continues to experiment with other cuvees with the mantra of producing either atypical varietals or classic varietals in non-traditional methods.
Bonarda is a name given to a handful of distinct grape varieties, mainly growing in Italy and in Argentina. In Lombardy’s Oltrepò Pavese and Emilia Romagna’s Colli Piacentini zones, the grape called Bonarda is actually Croatina. In Novara, Bonarda Novarese, often blended with Spanna (Nebbiolo), is actually Uva Rara. DNA profiling shows that most of the Bonarda in Argentina is actually identical to California’s Charbono—and Charbono is actually the Douce Noire grape from Savoie. Somm Secret—Bonarda Piemontese, an aromatic variety, is the only true Bonarda. Before phylloxera, it covered 30% of Piedmontese vineyard acreage.
By far the largest and best-known winemaking province in Argentina, Mendoza is responsible for over 70% of the country’s enological output. Set in the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains, the climate is dry and continental, presenting relatively few challenges for viticulturists during the growing season. Mendoza, divided into several distinctive sub-regions, including Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, is the source of some of the country’s finest wines.
For many wine lovers, Mendoza is practically synonymous with Malbec. Originally a Bordelaise variety brought to Argentina by the French in the mid-1800s, here it found success and renown that it never knew in its homeland where a finicky climate gives mixed results. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir are all widely planted here as well (and sometimes even blended with each other or Malbec). Mendoza's main white varieties include Chardonnay, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.