I had picked-up Edi at the Lima Airport shortly after midnight on Saturday morning, the 30th. After ample Champagne and a nice dinner, she had been able to get lots of sleep in the bed-seat in the First Class cabin, so she had arrived feeling rather fresh off her flight from Vancouver via Toronto. Shortly after 0100 we were back onboard Sequitur in the anchorage off La Punta, and we were unpacked and in bed by 0130.
Less than five hours later we were up and having coffee and biscotti and preparing to catch a launch ashore to join Pamela & Michael of Precious Metal and Patti & Mark of Alpha Wave in a couple of taxis for the hour-or-so drive to Miraflores to rendezvous with Gonzalo. From there we were driven south along the coast some 300 kilometres to Ica, where we were introduced to Rafael Picasso Salinas, Director of Bodegas Vista Alegre.
Rafael and Gonzalo had gone to school together, and they had maintained a very close friendship over the years. Rafael's vineyards and winery had been established by his family in 1857, and they are located just outside Ica and near the Nazca Lines.
Rafael led us on a wonderful tour of the facilities of the winery and the Pisco distillery, beginning with the experimental vineyard plots. Here, as in any progressive winery, new varieties and clones are planted to assess their suitability to the climate and soils. The vineyards here are in a desert environment, and they depend on irrigation. Vista Alegre uses a computer-controlled drip irrigation system.
Everything about the winery oozed charm; the architecture, the vegetation, the accent pieces, the whole setting were all very tasteful and harmonious.
Rafael led us through an old barrel room filled with no-longer-used botti. The maker's plaques indicated they were of Yugoslavian oak and made in Veneto. They are very similar to the Amarone and Valpolicella botti of the Lago di Garda region, and likely came from there a couple of generations or more ago through the family's ties with Italy.
Rafael then led us to their current barrel aging cellar, and I was very pleased to see that Vista Alegre is using small new oak barrels to age its better reds. I saw American oak as well as French barrels from Radoux, Demptos and Nadalie, and all those I saw were medium toast.
We spent some time looking at the wonderful copper of the Pisco distillery, and Rafael explained its use to the group. I have always enjoyed the gracefulness of the swan's necks above the pot stills.
We walked among the condensers and the serpentine cooling coils.
There is an old-world charm to the architecture and the decor in the distillery, and this is added to by some ancient Pisco ceramic urns decoratively mounted on the distillery walls.
... and in the gardens, other urns serve as decorative accents.
We walked up a driveway and through an archway at the back of the compound and out into the vineyards.
A large plot of newly-planted vines seemed to stretch all the way back to the foothills of the Andes.
Rafael invited us into his home, and into other private areas of the complex. He told us of the confiscation of the vast majority of the family's vineyard lands by the government in 1970, and of the family's long struggle to continue.
On the walls of one reception room was a collection of ancient burial bags and cloths that had been found on the property over the years. Rafael's wife had had these restored and mounted for display. Some were remarkably well-preserved, like this purse.
Others were only fragments, some of which were reported to be over a thousand years old.
It is remarkable to see how well these fabrics have survived the centuries; I am assuming that the very arid climate, with little or no measurable rainfall is a huge factor.
We then went to the tasting room, where Rafael poured samples of his wines for us to taste. We worked our way through a nice range, with some very pleasant lighter wines, and then we got to his flagship wines. We were surprised by the high quality of his Picasso Chardonnay, but then we were totally bowled-over by the 2007 Picasso Tempranillo. This is a wonderfully complex wine with a captivating nose of cassis, blackberries and underlying layers of leather and oak. On the palate are bright cassis and blackberry flavours that carry through into a long, clean finish. The tannins are firm, but well integrated and promise good aging potential. The overall impression is of elegance.
We bought a case. Several other members of the group also bought cases of the wines they enjoyed. We were then led through some gardens to a bar at the side of a swimming pool, where there was a splendid buffet laid-out. Rafael introduced us to his brother Alfredo, who oversees the technical aspects of the winery and distillery. Alfredo and I engaged in wine talk as we nibbled and drank. He introduced me to their Senorial, a Muscat Alexandria which I found remarkably similar to a nice Frontignan or Rivesaltes, and it went wonderfully with the pate de foie gras. Rafael saw my obvious enjoyment, and presented me with a bottle.
We then drove across to the other side of Ica, to Las Dunas, a small luxury hotel owned by the family. It is sited at the base of some huge sand dunes and near the airstrip from which flights over the Nazca Lines take off. We were led into the dining room to a poolside table, and Edi and I sat next to Rafael and his son Jaime at one end of the long table. There was a splendid buffet laid-out, with a large selection of hot and cold foods, with many Peruvian specialties. Onto my plate I managed to place a little bit of everything, not wanting to miss a taste experience.
The Picasso Tempranillo flowed endlessly into our glasses, at least at our end of the table, and we enjoyed an animated and broad-ranging conversation. Rafael asked if I wanted some lomo soltado, and seeing my enthusiasm, he took me to a cooking station where a chef prepared some as we watched.
We went back to our table and continued our lively conversation, and our attempt to empty a seemingly bottomless source of Picasso Tempranillo. The rest of the group left the table to go sand-boarding on the dunes, leaving Rafael and Jaime and Edi and me on our own.
We talked of eighteen-year-old Jaime's fifteen-year bout with brain cancer, of his wonderful spirit and of his having far exceeded his early life expectation. Rafael and Jaime were on their way to California the following week for follow-up on treatments at Stanford, where he continues to amaze the doctors.
The sand-boarding crowd rejoined us, and after postres and coffees we made our farewells and piled into the van for our return drive to La Punta. We were back aboard Sequitur at 2340 after an extremely full day.
Early on Sunday afternoon, as we were puttering about onboard, Gonzalo and Magdala hailed us from their sailboat, Tatita. They were bringing our case of Picasso Tempranillo out to Sequitur. It was a very special delivery by very special friends of a very special wine from a very special day.