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Alberto Arizu

Commercial and International Affairs Director
Bodega Luigi Bosca, Mendoza, Argentina

Click here to listen to a FOOD & WINE TALK interview with Alberto Arizu

By Simone Zarmati Diament

Any aficionado of Argentine wines is familiar with Bodega Luigi Bosca: it is the oldest family-owned winery in Mendoza. The history of the Arizus, the founding family, can be traced back to 1890, when they immigrated to Argentina from Spain and established themselves in the wine business.

The story of the family is also the history of immigration in the New World. “We’re a typical blend from Argentina: two families the Arizus from Spain and the Boscas from Piedmont,” said Alberto Arizu, the fourth generation of the Arizu family and the Commercial and International Affairs Director for Luigi Bosca in an interview with FOOD & WINE TALK WSFG.

The story of Bodega Luigi Bosca spans over a century in Lujan de Cuyo, -- a prime wine growing region in the heart of Mendoza which became the first official DOC or Controlled Denomination of Origin in 2005 thanks to the initiative of the Arizu family -- during which several generations of Arizus have developed the brand Luigi Bosca into a top line of wines.

Malbec, Argentina’s calling card and the most important grape in Lujan de Cuyo, has been planted in Argentina for at least 150 years and Luigi Bosca winery strives to preserve the characteristics and the traditional wine making systems of this pre-phylloxera grape in a terroir that extends from 160 m to 1110 m (600 to 3400 feet) above sea level on the flanks of the Andes.

The weather conditions are key to the growth of Malbec. Warm to hot days, cool nights, long dry summers and autumns, alluvial deposit, clay and marl soils, and water sourced from the Andes Mountains gives Mendoza an ideal climate and terroir to work with. The Arizus have taken it a step further and they have started to farm some of their vineyards with organic and biodynamic principles.

THE WINES.

Bodega Luigi Bosca is a top producer of one of the finest Malbecs in the country but also produces Tempranillo, bonarda, Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Torrontés and the only Riesling produced in Argentina under three labels: Finca La Linda, Luigi Bosca Reserva and Selectos de Familia Arizu.

Finca La Linda represents the range and diversity of Mendoza’s landscape, offering mono-variety wines including Malbec, Torrontes, Tempranillo and Bonarda, among others (price range $12 to $18)

Luigi Bosca Reserva, the next tier of wines includes the Malbec D.O.C. -- a single vineyard wine crafted from fruit grown at the family’s La Linda Estate in the Luján de Cuyo appellation, along with Luigi Bosca Riesling – the only Riesling produced in Argentina.

The top range, Selectos de Familia Arizu, is a reflection of their best vineyards and terroir, with Single variety wines including the Gala Collection wines and field blends from the top scoring Finca Los Nobles where Bouchet (not Alicante bouchet, this is a clone of Cabernet Franc) grows amidst Cabernet Sauvignon and eventually mutates in the Las Compuertas vineyards “Our aim is not to produce the best blend,” says Alberto Arizu, “but the best wine.”

Selectos de Familia Arizu includes the winery’s most recent release ICONO, a high-end blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot and Tannat. This delicious red-purple wine which exhibits complexity, structure and depth with a lengthy finish is the best of “a careful selection of the oldest and most noble vines from the family’s Las Compuertas vineyard in Lujan de Cuyo at 1200 meters (3600 feet) above sea level,” says Mr. Arizu

Listen as Alberto Arizu talks about Torrontes, a variety of grape indigenous to the province of Salta, north of Mendoza, and sourced from Cafayate, which is the top terroir for this fruity and aromatic dry wine, an easy to drink wine which is poised to become the next most popular white wine in the USA.

Listen as Mr. Arizu talks about growing Pinot Noir at the family’s Paraíso vineyard in the Maipú valley at 780 m (2400 feet) above sea level.

Luigi Bosca and the Arizu family have been instrumental in bringing Mendoza to the unprecedented level it has reached today, attracting winemakers from the old world: France, Spain, Italy and even from the US.

Listen as Alberto Arizu Commercial and International Affairs Director for Luigi Bosca talks about the development of the wine industry in Argentina which counts today over 1500 wineries along the Andes range from Patagonia in the South to the Northern Province of Salta.

Click here to listen to a FOOD & WINE TALK interview with Alberto Arizu

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