Jon StaenbergFounder and CEO, Agate Hound Fund

First Bottling of Hand of God Wines

6 Dec 2011 · 2 min

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1:36

On December 6, 2011, in Formandosa, winemaker Santiago of Hand of God Wines marks the first bottling of their Fingerprint Series Red, a Malbec blend with Syrah and a dash of Petit Verdot sourced from the Sobremesa Vineyard in the Uco Valley. Host John (Jon) interviews Santiago as they watch the first pallet leave the line and taste a bottle straight from the bottling line. Santiago notes minimal bottle shock typical of Mendoza Malbecs and predicts the wine will be ready to drink within two months, around February or March 2012. He also mentions ongoing work with 2011 barrel wines and upcoming 2012 vintages, indicating no rest for the winemaker despite the bottling milestone.

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Back in Formandosa, finally. A big day after about 6 years. Here it is, December 6th, 2011. I'm with Santiago, the mastermind and winemaker behind this operation of Hand of God Wines. And today's kind of a big day. What's going on?
First bottling date. So actually, this is when my job ends. All the risk is over, all the danger is over. The wine is in the bottle and I can rest. I can go on vacation. Actually, if that were true, I would be very happy.
Oh, there goes some of the bottles now.
First pallet.
First pallet, in fact.
Because I still have to take care of the wines in barrel from 2011 and the wines on the vine from 2012. No rest for the wicked. No, it's— I'm very happy. We are bottling right now our Malbec blend. It's a blend of Malbec, Syrah, and a dash of Petit Verdot.
The Fingerprint Series Red.
From the Sobremesa Vineyard in Uco Valley. And we're just tasting with Jon from the tank, opening a bottle straight from the bottling line. Noticeably little bottle shock. Malbec in Mendoza behaves that way. It doesn't suffer a lot of bottle shock. And so the wines are ready to drink. I'd say two months after bottling, they'll be ready to drink.
Yeah, so be ready around February, March. You'll have your chance to own and drink and enjoy your the first hand of God release. Thanks, Santiago.
Thank you, John.
Salud.
Salud.