An extract from "A Q&A with Legendary Canadian Wine-grower Ann Sperling" by Rod Phillips
Why did you choose Argentina? And why Malbec?
In 2006, Peter [Gamble] and I travelled to Argentina. We knew some of the wines but quickly realized that there were some amazing and excellent wines being made there. Of course, we were curious about the vineyards producing such great and perhaps little-recognized wines. After investigating, it was evident that there were plantings with pedigrees that literally matched the best sites in the world … and at land prices that were a fraction of what we’d normally pay in Canada. The best part was that we could totally geek out. Here are features that were possible—the Versado vineyard is now 100 years old; it’s 100 per cent vinifera, meaning that it’s planted on its own roots (no rootstock), and it’s non-clonal. Since it’s been growing in that location for 100 years, it’s well adapted to that specific place on Earth. It didn’t have to be malbec, but in Argentina, vineyards with all of these features are. So I guess that says something about malbec.