Chat with Vinny
There was a happy team at Fabre Montmayou following the vintage of 2024. Winter had seen heavy rains, but with the water table so low, this was a bonus. Strong Zonda winds blew hard and long throughout November springtime, unusual in itself and far from ideal during the budding of the vines, so yields were down. But nowhere near as low as the 2023 vintage when early spring frosts caused havoc. The summer of 2024 was particularly hot … so hot, in fact, the vines shut down in places, but overall the cellars are delighted with the quality of the year.
This year you’ll receive the 2022 vintage of GGG – the fine Malbec from Hervé Fabre’s Gualtallary vineyards. One lies at 1,100 metres, the other at 1,400 metres. In many areas of Mendoza, frost was a big problem that year – it struck five times during the spring. However, thanks to the high altitude of Gualtallary, bud break is naturally late and the region missed out on this peril.
Overall, it was a challenging vintage, with unusual conditions, but with the happy result of high-quality, age-worthy wines that display the right balance of fruit, freshness, tannins and complexity. Although, as one winemaker said, it had them on the edge of their seats until the very end … like a good movie!
All the grapes for GGG are handpicked, plot by plot, row by row, and vinified in small batches. Fermentation is all in open-top vats with the plunge-down of the grapes by hand, a few times a day at first, lessening as the wine progresses, so as not to extract too much tannin. The liquid is then pressed out and the wine put into barriques, 20% of those new wood, the rest one year old, for a year’s ageing before bottling.
The wine is a very attractive dark red colour, with violet shades. Rich and juicy black fruits, cherries and liquorice, along with notes of local mountain herbs. It has a very elegant texture – gentle, silky with fine, smooth tannins and a long aftertaste.
Let your bottles settle a week or so. The wine already makes delicious drinking, but if you prefer more mellow, complex flavours, then tuck away a few of your bottles for a later date. It will certainly benefit from decanting early, an hour in advance ideally. A superb, elegant red to serve with, no surprise, steak, but equally good with venison or an aubergine, tomato and mozzarella bake.
“I am from a small rural area called Canelón Chico, one of the historical places of wine production in Uruguay. My family has been growing grapes since 1944, and have been winemakers since my father’s generation. My father still loves his job making wine and my youngest brother has also joined us in this profession.
From early in my childhood I aspired to make wine like my father and had the opportunity to study oenology in Mendoza. From there, I visited many countries. Some of it was just for interest; at others I worked the vintage.
I have had the privilege of visiting Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and the Loire. My two trips to Cahors were particularly interesting being the home and origin of Malbec.
I would also like to visit Spain’s Ribera del Duero and Portugal’s Douro and Alentejo – I feel I could learn a lot from both.
So far I have completed 26 vintages, working in Argentina at the 140-year-old La Rural in Mendoza and Viña Cobos founded in 1998 by the American Paul Hobbs, before joining Fabre Montmayou in 2015.
Malbec is my hero grape for its versatility, but today I can say that I am a big fan of Cabernet Franc too.”
And as for the best wine he’s ever tasted … “Only one? That is impossible!! It’s like I have to say which of my two children I love more!! Jaja.”
