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New role at Doña Paula for Atkin’s ‘Viticulturalist of the Year’

Published:  26 May, 2020

Doña Paula Estate’s Martín Kaiser has taken on a new role as director of viticulture and winemaking at Doña Paula, building on 14 years as viticulturalist at this Santa Rita Estate’s-owned Argentinian winery.

Kaiser, who has been named Argentine Viticulturalist of the Year by Harpers columnist Tim Atkin MW in his new Argentina Special Report 2020, is credited with transforming viticulture at Doña Paula via an ongoing vineyard research programme entitled Terroir in Focus, looking at the influence of weather and soil on Malbec.

This involved aspects such as digging over 700 pits to identify soil types, along with around 200 separate microvinifications to explore the characteristics of each sub-plot within the vineyards.

This work, in turn, has been instrumental to the development of Doña Paula’s Alluvia Parcel wines from Gualtallary and the Altitude Series range.

Kasier, assisted by Andrea Tansini, has taken on the winemaking element of his role from Marcos Fernandez, who left Doña Paula earlier this year.

“I am very happy with this new professional challenge, which reinforces the work we have done for 14 years in Doña Paula and has been, without doubt, a great school for all who have been fortunate to be part of it”, said Kaiser.

Atkin’s Argentina Special Report, now in its eighth edition, is based on tasting over 1,700 wines from 331 wineries, singled out Kaiser for having, “the gift of explaining very complicated subjects in a way that makes sense to non-scientists.

“He knows and understands the terroirs of Argentina as well as anyone and, crucially, he is a viticulturist who knows how to make great wine - there aren’t many of those in the New World," he told Harpers.

On Argentina’s development more generally, Atkin was no less effusive, saying: “The transformation has been remarkable, I can’t think of another country that has changed so much in my wine writing lifetime. Again and again this year, I tasted with a smile on my face as wine after great wine expressed its terroir with precision, grace and beauty.”

Kasier, he added, was at the forefront of those driving this transformation.

Tim Atkin’s Argentina Special Report 2020 is now available via his website.



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