An émigré grape having a hard time, leaves the old country for the promise of the New World and finds spectacular success and an exulted position. Talk about upwardly mobile!
Argentina: Bodegas Foster
It’s the old immigrant story. You’re having a hard time in Europe. You take a chance and see what the New World has to promise. You find success far beyond what could have been achieved in the old country. Only in this case it is a grape, not a person. I’m talking about malbec.
Winemakers in Bordeaux were never able to make a rich, complex wine with the malbec grape alone, so it was relegated to a minor blending position. Although on the decline, the grape was and still is used there to bring certain characteristics to red wine blends. It enjoys some small success in the Cahors region of France where today it is the dominant grape in a full bodied, dark and enjoyable wine though not a particularly sophisticated one. It is in Argentina where the story and the destiny of malbec changed. Success was extraordinary, the émigré who achieves an exalted position, the George Soros of grapes. Malbec is now their signature wine.
I have been interested in malbec for a while and through Michael Aaron the chairman of the famed wine retailer, Sherry-Lehmann, I recently discovered a connection between Eastern Long Island and Argentinean malbec. That connection is Enrique Foster who has a house in Southampton on South Main Street and also is the proprietor of Bodegas Foster, a prestigious malbec producer in Mendozo, the province of Argentina adjacent to the Andes where growing conditions are perfect for malbec.
I would not say Mr. Foster is an accidental winemaker. His path was quite deliberate once he discovered his passion for malbec. And a few clues were there in his background indicating that he might someday be drawn to the wine trade. He is originally from the Spanish island of Mallorca where he still has a home and where vineyards were part of his life. His family moved to the United States where Mr. Foster graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. As a tax law specialist he worked for the Alliance for Progess as an advisor to governments and spent time in various parts of South America. But in one of those marvelous, magical moments that changes a life he tasted and developed a love for malbec and decided to pursue that interest. “I was never in the wine business before, and it is a wonderful experience,” Mr. Foster told me.
Bodegas Foster which released its first wines in 2002 is a large, state of the art winery based on gravity flow principles, a procedure certain wine producers believe disturbs the wine less than pumping operations and results in a more supple, soft and interesting wine. And they might be right based on my tastings of three of the current lines.
Enrique Foster Reserva Malbec ($25) has all the qualities that make malbec such a distinctive wine: full-bodied, soft tannins, rich with fruit and berry flavors, balanced and concentrated. Some people might consider the Inque label ($13) of Enrique Foster just an entry level malbec but for a value wine it offers extremely high quality. It is smooth, earthy, with mild licorice and floral notes. It is made without oak and does not require it. It is altogether satisfying and a great value.
The star of the lineup is Enrique Foster Limited Edition malbec ($45), and drinking it is a sublime experience. It is quite a serious wine—meant for a serious dinner I think—that is deep, dark and elegant with a heady bouquet and luscious taste. It is in its way as fine an expression of malbec as you will find. What more could you ask of a pairing between an émigré grape and an émigré winemaker driven by devotion to that grape?
