Chris’ note: At Daily Cut AM, our mission is to get you through the coronavirus panic with your health and your wealth intact.
Today, we hear from Legacy Research cofounder Bill Bonner. You may know Bill for his contrarian views on the markets and the economy. What you may not know is he owns one of the most remote high-altitude vineyards in the world.
You can buy the wine these grapes produce by joining the wine club his eldest son, Will, runs. It’s delivered straight to your door… so it’s perfect for “Lockdown America.”
But as you’ll see below, getting the wine to you isn’t as easy as it sounds. When the coronavirus panic threatened to destroy his entire crop in northwestern Argentina, Bill had no choice but to go to the remote vineyard himself…
“I don’t know if they’ll let you through the roadblock,” said the man. “But you can try.”
We were in the Calchaquí Valley in northwest Argentina, driving down a dusty road on the way to our ranch, Gualfin.
Only one case of the coronavirus has been reported in the whole province – in the capital city, Salta. Here in the Calchaquí Valley, we are separated from Salta by an extensive mountain range.
Yet, sure enough, we came across the roadblock.
“What are you doing?” asked the guard. Not waiting for an answer to his question, he came out with another: “Where are you going?”
And then, another policeman launched his own question: “Where did you come from?”
We attempted to answer the questions in order, as best we could. The first gendarme looked puzzled. The second seemed unfriendly.
In the background, in a tent they had made their headquarters, a nurse stood ready with a respirator.
Puzzlement seemed most appropriate.
Why the devil were we driving around in the middle of nowhere? We are obviously foreigners. Where did we come from? And how did we get through all the other roadblocks?
After a series of questions, and the obligatory inspection of our papers, the first policeman had an insight:
“Oh… You’re the owners of Gualfin. Okay… Go ahead… And tell Gustavo (our foreman) I said hello.”
Underway again, we drove up a deserted road… and arrived at the ranch a couple of hours later.
The reason for our visit was to see what we could salvage from our grape crop.
You see, the roads here – often little more than dry riverbeds – tend to wash out. With the whole country on lockdown, the municipality had not been able to clear them. So the grape-pickers had not been able to get up from the valley. We faced losing the whole crop.
We got to the ranch and had a hasty lunch. Then, we set out to the little valley, about another 40 minutes further along, where the grapes are grown.
Inspection revealed that only about a third of the grapes had dried out. If all went well, we’d still end up with about 20,000 kilos.
Withered grapes |
They’ll be extra-sweet for having stayed on the vine longer than they should. But the sugar will be consumed during fermentation, making the wine extra-rich.
So, the harvest is on! It will take about a week and a half to finish.
“Move fast,” advised our canny neighbor, Ramón. “See that?” He pointed to high, wispy clouds. “Cold weather is coming soon. Those grapes could freeze.”
The cosecha begins |
The 2019 crop would be a shame to lose. As our friend, winemaker Julien Miquel, reported when he visited our vineyard in December, 2019 was a bumper year. It rained – a rarity in the bone-dry Calchaquí, where entire years can pass with barely four inches of rain falling.
Our vineyard looking lush last December |
Julien noted:
The vegetation is surprisingly green. Plenty of plump, green bunches already on the vine. The 2020 vintage is looking very favorable.
Plump, green bunches |
An hour or so down the road, at the bottom of a valley that can only be accessed by a steep, dirt road so winding that you start to wonder if it’s intentionally trying to send you over the cliff… winemaker Raúl Dávalos had reported a similarly favorable view.
Dávalos is the winemaker behind our own Tacana wine. His family has been making wine in these remote valleys for generations. They were the first to haul vines over from Europe and across the Andes mountains nearly two hundred years ago.
Today, he makes several critically acclaimed wines, including his flagship “RD” and “Mayuco.” (Robert Parker has given both 90+ point ratings.)
Raúl’s wines |
As a true winemaker (far more so than your humble editor), he can’t afford to lose a vintage to poor roads… coronavirus or not.
Making wine, even in the easiest of climes, is often a money loser.
“How do you make a small fortune in wine?” goes the old joke. “Start with a large one.”
Thousands of feet above civilization… where vineyards already yield one-third what they should… and the nearest port is 1,000 miles away on roads too rough for big rigs… winemaking is an even more precarious activity.
Fortunately, the type of malbec we grow up here is a hardy grape. No amount of abuse – roaring winds, UV rays 80% more intense than in Bordeaux, a complete lack of water, and even a harvest several weeks late – can dampen its will to survive.
It has survived much worse.
150 years ago, a bug known as phylloxera embarked on a worldwide vineyard infestation.
By the time the small, yellow aphid was finished, European wine – in particular, French wine – was mostly extinct.
Yes, the vines that made Bordeaux… completely gone.
The industry only survived by replanting their vineyards with American rootstocks immune to the bug.
Today, according to journalist Levi Gadye, “nearly all French wine, including expensive French wine, comes from vines grafted onto American rootstocks.”
Which is to say: Unless you’ve had a pre-1870 vintage French wine… you’ve likely never had true French wine.
Those original vines, which include a pre-phylloxera variety of malbec, are known as France’s “lost grapes.”
Today, they only persist in a few places on Earth.
Argentina’s Calchaquí Valley is among them.
At vineyards like Raúl’s and ours, pre-phylloxera malbec vines remain, the last vestige of what was once the pride of France.
Back at our vineyard, we examined our grapes, some teetering on the verge of raisinhood. A slightly drier grape is not necessarily a bad thing; at some vineyards in Australia, harvested grapes lie on drying racks for several days before pressing.
We popped one in our mouth. The flavor was intense – should make for some very concentrated, inky-red wine, packed with resveratrol (the natural antioxidant found in the skin of red grapes).
We prepared to leave, returning reluctantly to the world of roadblocks and mass hysteria. The grapes would be okay.
Regards,
 |
Bill Bonner
Cofounder, Legacy Research
Chris’ note: Care to taste a Malbec from vines 150 years old? Today, you can reserve some of the Calchaquí Valley’s greatest Malbecs (from pre-phylloxera vines)… to be brought to your doorstep from valleys over 5,000 miles away…
The next shipment goes out just days from now. You can reserve yours now by clicking here… (Supplies are limited and will sell out.)
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