The Tukma Winery and Altalaluna Hotel reopened their doors to invite wine lovers to “harvest the best high altitude wines” in the Tolombón Valley -a few kilometers from Cafayate, Salta-. Although this year was fraught with uncertainty, the public’s response surprised everyone, surpassing the hotel’s participation and occupancy records. “In this edition, we had 40% more attendance. Since November they were calling us to ask us if the Harvest was being made,” says Monserrat Ingala, Manager of Altalaluna Hotel and in charge of the tourism area at Bodega Tukma.
The welcome and presentation was in charge of José Luis Mounier, Winemaker of the winery who is credited with being the creator of the Torrontés, which is an emblem of the excellence of the Calchaquí Valleys. The note, on the other hand, was given by the particular pairing: this time, each dish was created to ideally accompany one of the wines, and not the other way around as is usually the case.
“This Vintage is very good. With a cloudy summer, some rains and lower temperatures that lengthened the period of oenological maturity so that we will have a good sugar content and good acidity. We will have elegant, fresh, fruity and harmonious wines (not so structured), with a great aromatic profile and good color, and the whites with a delicate profile. It will be an excellent vintage! “, predicted Mounier.
During Saturday morning, the Agricultural Engineer María Paz Gómez Rueda received the group of “apprentice harvesters” to explain everything in a didactic and romantic way: “Today we are going to link directly with a plant that is very special, because of the fruit That gives us. Because with it we make an ancestral drink, which has been crossed by many cultures, and which reflects the evolution of humanity and the passage of many natural events and phenomena. And which has the particularity of generating unique moments and inviting to share, a need that arose strongly in this pandemic. Wine is a great ally in this. The opportunity we have today is to know and perceive some of the factors that affect this crop such as climate, soil and the way in which it is worked by the human being. Thus, the next time we drink a wine, we do it with the awareness that no bottle will be the same as another, nor can it be compared with any other place “.
“The vineyards of the Tukma Winery are treated in an agroecological way. This implies great care for the environment, the plant and also the wine consumers. That is, to observe what we do and the processes that happen all the time and that many Sometimes in the eagerness to produce they end up not knowing. Like the amount of virtues that soil microorganisms contribute to the vineyards by allowing various plants to grow among them. “
They followed a morning of harvest, the collection of tokens that each participant received when delivering the gamelas, a lunch among the vineyards -previous selection of grapes in the hopper- and, finally, the treading of the grapes and the stamping of aprons. The artistic touch that surprised everyone was that of the Cafayate Youth Ballet, which taught the steps of classical dances and even invited the most intrepid to join.
The gastronomy of Juan Carlos Pulido and Martín Bañuelos was the protagonist with proposals where colors and flavors were presented together in innovative ways. The setting was in charge of Verónica Campbell and Alicia Cirico, the opening instrumental show was by Fernando Subelza, and the closing of experimental electronic melodies was by Celeste Borigen. The weekend was crowned with a meal by candlelight, under the carob trees and the fellings of the unique garden of the Hotel Altaluna, with a musical folkloric show by Los Cabales.
Finally, another pleasant surprise of the edition was the presence of the artist Martín Mauricio Molina, capturing his vision of what was happening in a work with mixed media. At the end of the day, the painting was auctioned among those present and the money raised went to the Luchá Project, which accompanies women who are experiencing breast cancer.
“This vintage open to the public was born dreaming out loud, back in 2019. With total freedom, the directors of the winery allowed me to make it happen. Today we look back and are excited to see how it grew and to know that this party has already been installed in the national agenda as one of the iconic events of the Wine Route “, highlights Monserrat.
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