Mauricio Lorca’s Unique Wines
The Troubadour Gallery 24th May 2012
If you’ve ever been to one of Atilio’s tastings before, you’ll know just how brilliant they really are. He manages to simultaneously teach and entertain, whilst making his guests feel at complete ease, resulting in a rare experience that you come away from in absolute contentment, albeit rather wishing it had gone on a bit longer. It’s an excellently complementary combination of information and humour that creates a memorable experience for all and this particular occasion was no exception to the quality of events we’ve come to expect so far. To top things off, we even had a special surprise…
the tasting in full swing
The evening was centred around the wines of Mr. Mauricio Lorca, an Argentinean wine maker with a thirst for original, intricate creations. As far as the wines go, we were graced with some genuine treasures that entirely surpassed my expectations. Among them was Lorca’s own blend, “Inspirado” 2008, which translates quite literally to “Inspired”. It’s a fusion of Syrah, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot and it’s positively sublime. My limited knowledge of wines means my interpretation is not, perhaps, the most sophisticated, but I can still tell when something is as distinct and extraordinary as this gem. I also found the process of the wine’s development rather intriguing; the wine is fermented in 500 litre barrels during maceration, which is how the wines get their intense colour and flavour. Lorca then tastes all the wines from the separate grapes and decides on the blend’s base by choosing the one which has the longest after taste. In this case it was the Syrah. Even to an oenological idiot like me that sounds like a slightly eccentric method and it’s obviously one that makes him stand out as such a fascinating and inspiring figure in wine – much of the reason why our very own Atilio Falco, an esteemed and respected expert in Argentinean wines, regards him as one of his all-time-favourite wine makers.
Another wine that stood out was the Fantasia Torrontes, 2011. Immediately the smell struck me as succulently sweet and fruity. Then the taste! I don’t think a wine has ever amazed so fast. There was an explosion of flavours. Think apples, lychees, sweet lemon and, ironically, grapes! It was emphasised as we tasted that Torrontes is probably one of the only wines that actually tastes like the fruit it comes from. Atilio also explained how unique it is as a grape and despite common misconceptions it’s not actually originally Spanish (we don’t know its origins). We do know that it’s a mixture of Muscat and Criolla Chica, as this was discovered in recent genetic analysis of the grape – a fact told to us by the brilliant Mr. Laurie Webster, CEO of Las Bodegas and leading specialist importer of Argentinean wines, who provided all the wines and a fair amount of interesting facts and jokes.
Half way through the tasting Atilio stood aside for the unveiling of our awaited surprise, adding an unforgettable twist to the evening. He introduced to us the star of the show, Mr. Lorca himself, who was up until that point sitting incognito amongst the audience! I’m pretty sure that no one was expecting such a brilliant turn of events, and the look of shock (the good sort) which spread through the room was absolutely fantastic. There was wide applause and grins all round, and things suddenly became far more relaxed as the tension of the mystery had settled. Mauricio Lorca then talked us through the remaining wines, which made all of us feel really quite privileged!
Atilio with Mauricio Lorca
In total we tasted eleven wines – all of them delicious in their respective qualities and differences. It was an incredible tasting and I certainly learned a lot. The presence of Mauricio Lorca made it even more spectacular, and I’d really like to thank him for the evening. I’d also like to mention thanks to the charismatic Mr. Laurie Webster all his help, as well as journalists Philippe Auclair and Charlotte Santry. Not forgetting the brilliant crowd we had, and of course, a huge thanks to Atilio Falco, our Wine Director, for putting the whole evening together so carefully. It was educational, interesting and above all, fun.
All the wines we tasted are available in The Troubadour Wine Shop (when they’re not sold out) – another surprise being the sublime Fantasia Malbec, a deep purple burst of ripe fruits and summer spice, which for a limited time is on offer at the incredible price of £11 per bottle instead of the usual £17.50!
Atilio Falco hosts regular wine tastings in The Troubadour Gallery.
If you want any more information about this or future tastings,
by Alice Bone Connaughton
