Riccetelli and Lopez

Master
and apprentice, behemoth and beauty, yin and yang: two
complementary personalities and temperaments make this newly
formed team creating wine at Bodega Norton. The winery was
founded by Edmund James Palmer Norton, an English engineer
who’d come to Argentina to help in the gargantuan task of
building the Transandean railway connecting Mendoza and
Santiago, Chile. Settling in Mendoza with Juana Suarez, his
Argentine wife, the entrepreneurial Norton adopted the
bourgeoning wine trade, imported vines from France, devoted
himself to viticulture, and founded, in 1895, the first
winery south of the Mendoza River in Perdriel – today
Norton’s flagship vineyard. Bought in 1989 by Austrian
optics and jewelry entrepreneur Gernot Langes Swarovski,
this established, forward-looking biodynamic winery has
splendid vineyard holdings, a tidy portfolio and a wide web
of international distribution. Of particular interest are
the Privada (reserve “Bordeaux” blend with Malbec
prominent), a sumptuous Malbec DOC, a solid mid-priced
Barrel Select line, and “Lo Tengo!” – cleverly packaged
entry-level exemplars of Argentina’s signature grapes
(Torrontes white and Malbec red) that are, marketing-wise,
as much hip-shake as hand-shake products. On many of the
wine-related topics below, Jorge dictated, and Jimena
translated.

JORGE
RICCITELLI &
MARIA
‘JIMENA’ LOPEZ
• 55 & 29 • Winemakers • Bodega Norton
• Mendoza, Argentina

FRESH
BEGINNINGS
JORGE
My first job in a winery was when I was a teenager; it is a
very traditional winery here in Mendoza called Gargantini.
My father and grandfather worked there, too. Later I moved
to Salta (northern white wine stronghold near Brazil) to
work for the Etchart winery for about 15 years. I came back
to Mendoza to begin at Norton around 1985.
JIMENA
There was no wine background in my family – my mother’s a
teacher and my father’s an accountant – but my mother is an
excellent cook. I started working in a wine lab when I was
16; my high school had a science program where we could work
in laboratories during my junior and senior years and
actually apprentice at a winery. I loved it: I was soon in
University in enology. When I graduated from Facultad Don
Bosco, Juan Maza University, I was the only girl in my
class. Today there are many more. There were no mentorship
programs, and it was difficult, but I could never imagine
myself in any other career. I never stopped working and
gaining opportunities for experience in different wineries
in United States, Mexico and Australia. At Chandon
Argentina, I worked from 1993 to 1999. I went to Stonehaven
in Coonawarra to work in last year’s harvest. Soon after I
returned to Argentina, Jorge called me.

GETTING
TOGETHER
JORGE
I needed to find a new assistant when my assistant winemaker
Adrian Menton was hired by Clos de las Siete (prestigious
winery owned by French entrepreneur Michel Roland). Jimena
came very highly recommended. JIMENA
At Bodega Norton the winemaking program is very clear,
because Jorge works in a very particular way. It’s a very
simple process and based on taste. We have the vineyards
classified in different quality levels, so we know for which
range of wines we are going to use each grape. We separate
the grapes in different tanks and make specific vinification
according to the quality of each grape. Each day we go and
taste every single tank, which are grouped into quality
levels, and we make decisions based on our tasting. If the
grapes are ripe and healthy, our job is easy. Of course,
it’s also important that the chemical analyses in the lab
support our tasting decisions.

WINE
OASIS JORGE Drip
irrigation is the best method here in Mendoza. This system
uses plastic hoses with little spigots that water each
plant. This way you can manage exactly the amount of water
that you want for each plant and of course it’s an excellent
method to conserve water. You must remember that water in
Mendoza comes only from the mountains and is as precious as
gold for us – here in our oasis in the middle of a big
desert. The now antiquated flood irrigation system uses no
hoses; you just send the water trough small channels right
next to each row. This is not only wasteful, but it’s quite
difficult to control the amount of water that each vine
receives.

ORGANIC
CHALLENGE
JIMENA
This year Jorge has made me responsible for several research
projects. One is the thermo-vinification testing. I am also
working and studying a lot about micro-oxidation in red
wines. The biggest physical task is to prepare all the wines
to be ready for the bottling and for the bottling line.
JORGE
Organic winemaking is our greatest challenge today. For a
biodynamic environment to be successful, the entire area
must be in harmony – the houses, the winery, the vineyards.
It sounds difficult, but we have already achieved that, with
organically correct grapes and cellars, wild fermentation
and the pure processes. We are making organic wine to which
we don’t add anything – no filtering, no chemicals, no
nothing. The big task that faces us is to sufficiently
improve the quality of these organic wines. Our goal is to
make the best organic wines! Few have done it yet. Our
organic wines are good, but we want to increase quality
before we go outside with them, label and sell them
abroad.

NEW
DIRECTIONS
JIMENA
Our new popular line – “Lo Tengo!” Torrontes and Malbec –
are wines with rich colors and good fruitiness. They have a
certain complexity, but they’re easy to drink at any time of
the day and any time within the next year. I like the way
the labels dance before your eyes! JORGE
The 2OO5 has been an excellent harvest. I think the wines
are going to be very good, with excellent color and
intensity, and good flavors, both the reds and
whites.