Traslapiedra

About Traslapiedra

Traslapiedra Tinto Paraje Altamira represents a new kind of Argentinian wine. It is the project of five friends who came together to make wine out of a newer GI in the Uco Valley, a Marine Desert at over 1,000 meters altitude high in the Andes mountains with calcareous soil known as Paraje Altamira. The spectacular ecological phenomenon of a “marine desert” is explained by the presence of marine sediments in the soils, spread millions of years ago throughout the valley by the Tunuyán river of oceanic origins. “And so our Marine Desert was created. A natural oxymoron. A contradiction that flooded our soil with white rocks.”

Lead winemaker Juanfa Suarez of Rocamadre chooses to harvest as early as two weeks before other Independent Producers of Paraje Altamira (PIPA) to achieve “vinos de sed” (wines of thirst) where alcohol is a touch lower, the style is bright and juicy, and the wines are leaner than most (perceived) “typical” Argentinian reds. “Traslapiedra is a wine of thirst, able to quench the thirst of a sailor in the desert or a Bedouin at sea.”

Juanfa Suarez’s great grandfather put roots down in Paraje Altamira in 1921 to experiment with winemaking. His son, Juanfa’s grandfather, turned to growing apples and pears on the land to survive economic fluctuations. Today, Juanfa farms 99 acres and vinifies 20% of the grapes for Traslapiedra, Rocamadre, Finca Suarez, and other projects, and he sells the rest of the fruit to surrounding wineries.

Juanfa is researching organic certification, in the meantime, all wines of Traslapiedra can be included in a low intervention, natural, and organic conversation. He describes the following vineyard & cellar practices to support interested clients and consumers:

– No additives including sugar, acidifiers, and powdered tannins.

– No manipulations including the use of spinning cones to remove alcohol, micro-oxygenation to accelerate aging, nor use of laboratory cultivated yeast.

– No synthetic molecules in the vines.

– No chemical herbicides.

– No machines for harvesting grapes (all handpicked).

– Low to no filtering.

– Low to no sulfites (20mg/L “free”).

– No chaptalization.

All Traslapiedra wines are ideal served slightly chilled.