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Interview of Adolfo Basso – Owner – Bodega Amalia for AsiaImportNews – Exclusive
Could you please tell us the story of your winery, when it was created and how it developed decades after decades ?
Originally from Genoa, Italy, the Basso Family has been producing wine since 1922. In their beginning they owned the “Purísima” winery from where they sold wines in 220 liter wooden barrels. In 1935, Adolfo Basso, together with his brother Tulio, purchased the “Santa Ana” winery, eventually turning it into one of Argentina’s largest bodegas. Seeking to simplify their lives and once again become involved in small production winemaking, the family sold “Santa Ana” in 1996. Using the profits from this sale the Basso’s purchased and remodeled a small winery in Carrodilla, Mendoza the following year. Inside this space the “Bodega Amalia” project was born. The winery is 100% estate, with two vineyards in Mendoza’s Uco Valley. Carlos and his son Adolfo run the day to day operations of the winery.
What sort of wines are you producing ?
We produce 4 lines of wines. Differences between the lines are due to the work in the vineyard, all along the grape growing cycle; the fermentation management, and the different aging.
The DOS FINCAS line is focused in fruity wines, good varietal expression and medium body in order to be easy drinkable wines, with a gentle palate.
The wines of the two VIÑA AMALIA Single Vineyard lines, Reserva and Gran Reserva, show a remarkable intensity in all their expression. Each one is produced from grapes of a selected parcel, where the vineyard management is focused in obtaining great concentration of polyphenols. The Reserva line is aged for 12 months in oak barrels, and the Gran Reserva for 18/24 months.
Our top line is CARLOS BASSO SIGNATURE. Here we dedicate all our efforts to the best quality we can achieve, both in the vineyard and in the winery. The wines of this line show all our experience, philosophy and identity.
How important are your export distribution compared to national distribution ?
90% export – 10% national
What sort of distributors are your customers ?
Most of our importers have been working with us for more than a decade, and all of them share our winemaking philosophy.
In the US and Brazil we work with importers that have a distribution network specialized in wines. In Canada we have agents that sell the wines imported by the Government Monopoly. In other countries our importers are small distributors focused on boutique wines.
Why your wines are different from other wineries in your area?
We own and manage almost 300 hectares of vineyards in the Uco Valley area. These vineyards can produce 250.000 cases of premium wines. We process and sell about 10% of this quantity. This means that we select the very best parcels of our vineyards for our wines.
We can say that our wines express the identity of the grapes from our two vineyards in the High Uco Valley, the identity of our taste and the almost one century winemaking knowledge, resulting in a definite singular style.
Do you produce grapes in an organic or environmental friendly method, or with general methods ?
Environmental friendly method: our grapes are sustainably farmed.
Are your wines already distributed in Asia, and if not what are the countries you are looking for new distributors ?
We do not have distributors in Asia, and we are open to any country where we can have a long relationship in wine selling.