Bodegas Icaro Estate
Founded: 2005 by Jose Luis Durand
Winemaker: Jose Durand - Born in Chile and moved to Valle de Guadalupe in the 1970s to make wine for Chateau Domecq before starting Mexico's first premium wine brand in 2005.
Winery location: Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico
Region and grape source: Jose's relationships with select farmers in Valle de Guadalupe are as old as many of the vineyards themselves. He uses grapes from several sites in Valle de Guadalupe that he has been sourcing from for 30 years, 20 of which as a winemaker for his own winery.
Vineyard location, elevation and grape varieties: All are located within Valle de Guadalupe at elevations between 900 and 1,300 ft and each represents the pinnacle of expression within the region for variety of grapes they grow.
Other notes:
- After working for several decades as the winemaker at Chateau Domecq, Jose found he no longer had interest in their high-volume approach to business and winemaking, nor did he align with their approach to care for the land or intent of self-expression. Having discovered a vineyard that produced grapes whose quality and character were beyond what he could explain, he created a small batch of a few barrels of wine that would later become the first "Icaro", arguably Mexico's first uber premium wine. As Domecq had no interest in making wine of this kind, Jose eventually left his post at Domecq to start Bodegas Icaro with the intent of reaching the highest levels of expression of wine in Valle de Guadalupe.
In the nearly 2 decades that have passed since that point, Jose has dug as deeply as possible into what became an incredible blend of theory and passion, science and poetry. The current result is the launch of an ultra premium line of wines called Hypervinos that are founded on what he calls "aromatic enology". In this approach, all of the key decisions in the process of farming, harvest, and winemaking turn on aromatics rather than tannin, ph and sugar development as do all other traditional methods.
- Icaro (or Icarus in English) borrows its name and significance from the Greek legend of Icarus. It intends to show the character of the winery in terms of their willingness to push the limits to find excellence, elegance and beauty in their wines.
Total Production: 4,800 cases, 14 wines
2020 Icaro - Bodegas Icaro
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
This wine is balance and elegance. Icaro is the heart of Bodegas Icaro – where it all began. In this wine, Joes captures the search for enological freedom, without limits and without sparing any effort to achieve the maximum expression of the wonderful geographical, soil, climatic and cultural qualities that the Valle de Guadalupe offers. Icaro is a Nebbiolo based blend, (with the Nebbiolo coming from of clay-granitic soils from the foothills of the Valley mountains) and the rest composed of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah from Los Arenales on the banks of the dry river. This is the iconic Mexican wine based on a philosophical orientation that led the winery to an authentic, manual oenological model based on knowledge; where the wine becomes an aromatic sculpture that tries to capture time and a moment of beauty in the life of the vineyard.
880 cases made
Drinking window - upon release - 15 years
Vintage:
2020
Blend:
49% Nebbiolo, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Grenache
Producer:
Bodegas Icaro
Winemaker:
Jose Durand - Chilean, lives in Valle de Guadalupe
Vineyards:
Valle de Guadalupe – Elevation 1378 ft, 2.46 acres- sandy soils, Minimally irrigated and farmed with as much biodiversity as the vines will allow in “precision sustainability” approach. Cabernet Sauvignon was planted in 1938, Nebbiolo 2006, and Grenache 1958.
Winemaking:
An ideal vintage - no rain during the growing season followed a cold wet winter supporting fully dormant vines. Grapes harvested by hand and lightly pressed in basket press then transferred to flexitanks for a cold fermentation with skins. Manual punch downs carried out daily with the gentlest hand possible. Once fermentation was complete the wine was moved to French Oak barrels of various use and aged for 12 months before bottling. Bottles were held for an additional 12 months before release.
Alcohol:
12.7%
Farming:
Precision sustainable
