La Posta Delivers

As I grow older, I am still completely surprised at how the "school year" still affects my calendar. I spend most of my summers trying to trim the winter weight and focusing on our two Wine Access wine competitions (the International Value Wine Awards and the Canadian Wine Awards). Once the Labour Day weekend passes, however, it is nothing but wine tastings, winemaker visits, dinners, lunches, and wine shows. Of course, I still have to complete the real work that I do, but a sense of fun trickles into the workday.

After almost two weeks in Toronto for the Canadian Wine Awards, I came home to Calgary over the long weekend to what I hoped was a week off work to relax and recharge for a bit. Of course, the first thing that happened is that I got sick with a wonderful cold that left me unable to taste a thing. This cold, which took me out of four tastings that week, finally slipped away earlier this week allowing me to kick off my school year with a tasting this last Wednesday.

The beautiful and talented Celeste Pesce was in Calgary briefly to host a few tastings for buyers and media before heading off to some tastings in the states. Celeste is the Assistant Winemaker and Export Manager for the Luca and La Posta brands of Argentina which are the efforts of Laura Catena (yes, that Catena). Starting the morning with a tasting of 13 wines is always a treat, but the most exciting thing about the La Posta brand is how reasonable they are for the quality in the bottle.

The La Posta brand is already available in other parts of Canada, but we in Alberta should be seeing three of these wines arriving in early to mid October. Primarily malbec, these wines should be on retail shelves for about $15 to $17 and keep an eye out for the Cocina (Kitchen) blend of 60 percent malbec and equal portions of bonarda and syrah. Lots of berry fruits and rustic underbrush aromas, very food friendly and tasty. The two straight malbecs - the Angel Paulucci Vineyard and the Pizella Family Vineyard - both show excellent varietal expression. While the Angel is a bit more smoky and tannic the Pizella is a little juicy and tight. Keep an eye out for full notes soon on these gems and other wines tasted in the group.