The taste of the Bolivia wine region

“Pachamama,” said our Orlando Condorí guide. Bowed his cup and spilled some pink wine on the sand dry.

“Yes, Pachamama!” Everyone said, doing the same.

They looked at me. “Pachamama!” I said then, while I poured half of my drink on the ground. I had no idea what I was doing or why, but I did.

He gave me sorry. He had been enjoying that pink. But it wasn’t a bad idea either: I felt dizzy. So much that I had to sit down.

“It is not for wine,” explains Niki Barbery-Bleyleben, Prometa Conservation Ambassador, an environmental organization oriented to sustainability and community resilience. “It’s because of altitude.” We are 3,500 meters above sea level.

We are facing a table lying on a plateau that looks at the Biological Reserve of the Sama Cordillerain the southern part of Bolivia. It is the high desert area, with its bright sun on top, with a view … to everything.

From our privileged position we see in all its immensity the mountain range of the mountain range, between our group and what seemed to be the confines of the planet: dispersed and empty earth, of dust, a glowing lagoon with exuberance of flamenco and so much sky I must stretch the neck to find your edges.

The reserve remains in the Tarija province, an agricultural region nestled in the corner of Bolivia that Limit with Paraguay and Argentina. It is not a great Tarija, also the name of the city that is within that province: it barely has about 36,000 square kilometers, which makes it little larger than the small American state of Maryland. But its topography is surprisingly varied: forests, deserts, lakes, mountains, sun, rain, snow. House Pumas, alpacas and flamesin addition to three types of Flemish.

It is the wine region of Bolivia: A collection of half a dozen of the best barely known wineries in the world and surrounded by vast virgin nature. Add one five -star resort and a wedding of famous people and Tarija could be The Tuscany of Italy. Although with a magical side.

“We are very spiritual In Bolivia, ”says Niki Barbery-Bleyleben, owner of a doctorate in social policies.“ We have roots in several indigenous traditions dating back to centuries. The Andean worldview says that We walk towards our past: It is what is known and, therefore, is facing us; The future is behind usbecause it is something that we cannot see. “

That worldview explains the wine. “Pachamama” is a word that expresses Thanks in Quechua and Aymara languagesoriginated in indigenous peoples of the Andes.

“It’s a form of thank Mother Earth”, Barbery-Bleyleben teaches us while carrying our team in the back of the truck for the two-hour trip to the city of Tarija, moving slowly to avoid dizziness.

My friend Lisa and I have come to explore the Tarija wine region with Barbery-Bleyleben and her friend Julie. It turns out that, when what is done is known, Altitude is a key ingredient for elaboration of wine.

“High wines today They are fashionable”, Mentions Jürgen Kohlberg, owner of the Tayna winery, a biodynamic vineyard located on the outskirts of the provincial capital. The star of his winery is the Pinot Noir, one of the world’s highest altitude.

We are at 2,100 meters altitudeand that is not the only problem. “There is no land,” says the man as we walk through his vineyard. In fact, the ground is made up of small stones he calls slab.

Delgado and white beard, Kohlberg has very high ambitions. “My goal is to make the best pinot noir in the world,” he says, and clarifies that only “at night, in complete silence. It’s truly magical, right? “

We return to our Mini stay, red houseon the other side of the city, thinking about Kohlberg and its silent, magical harvest. It is not surprising that it produces only about 2,000 bottles a year.

The next morning, after breakfast a Bolivian black coffee called Takesi and a toast with avocado, we walk around the city to buy some hand -woven things to take home. The time comes to visit later Solana fieldsmaybe The boldest vineyard of the area. Very careful paths, lavender bushes, entrance doors of 6 meters high: Solana fields could intimidate the most painted of the Tuscan wineries.

“We should not have viticulture here. In the South Strip are New Zealand, South Africa, Patagonia, about 33 degrees, ”describes Luis Pablo. Photo Wgraranier, the general manager, referring to the latitudes in which other countries develop that activity.“ In the northern strip are Spain, France, Italy. In Tarija we are in the 21 degrees, so Wine here makes no sense.”

In other words, local latitude is usually too hot for the elaboration of wine. “But Due to the height we can produce even when we should not be able to do it. “

Like most of Bolivia’s warehouses, the Fields of Solana’s vineyards also produce a liquor called singani (In this case, under the Casa Real brand). Since it distils from wine, the singani often It compares to the cognac or the piscobut for the real faithful, it is a unique liquor in their class.

“I felt as if I had encountered a jewel that nobody knew,” replies film director Steven Soderbergh when we talked about Zoom. In 2007 Soderbergh filmed part of the movie Che – the Argentine in Bolivia. “When Singani of Casa Real for the first time I had a three -stage experience.

It is very floral and I do not get used to a liquor having that aroma. Then you try it and it is very complex. And when you swallow it, it does not burn. It simply disappears. I thought ‘I have to call him vodka and tell him that I met someone. ” Alexandria Moscatel grapes And it can only occur in certain regions of Bolivia above 1,600 meters.

“When the Spaniards colonized Bolivia, they brought wine,” explains Franz Molina, from the Kuhlmann winery. “But when they came to the coast he had spoiled, so they had to distill it. That became the Singani. It was A way to keep the wine.”

Soderbergh was so fascinated with this drink that in 2008 he associated with Casa Real and created Singani 63 (he was born in 1963), the first singani exported to the United States.

“I think that by the people who were never in Bolivia there is incredibly erroneous belief that in a way it is a place lacking all sophistication,” added the filmmaker. “There is a culture of incredibly vibrant food and drink. You arrive and realize that they have everything. “

A few days after starting our trip, we set out to try everything.

Lunch in atmosphere, the restaurant of the bodega Kohlbergit was outdoors. We sat at a table under the branches of a mulberry with a view to hectares of vineyards of an intense green. In the distance, bird songs.

Our group had increased to 10 people: members of the Kohlberg family, friendships, cousins, one or two vineyard executives. They would forgive you if you thought that each person in Bolivia meets people who is a friend of a cousin or a neighbor. It’s a small place.

We start with homemade bread and wine butter.

“Out of respect for the planet, we use everything,” says chef Pablo Cassab, who approaches his food. “Nothing is wasted. If we peel a carrot, dry the shell and convert it into carrot powder. ”

“In Bolivia the gastronomic route goes through peace,” he adds referring to the capital of the country. “But as people learn from wine, Start learning from food. That takes us to Tarija. “

Immediately, the following dish: grilled caruciles, broccoli fried fries with crunchy onions on white pore puree. Moments later, a new wine: stelar, white made with ovas ugsthe oldest strains of the vineyard. The stelar brings its own trick: The label changes color with temperature.

As the sunlight is attenuating, the air becomes heavier and the bacanal comes to an end. We return in the truck while thick rain drops hit the windshield impetuously.

It is surprising cold when we entered Tarija to make a stop in Tajzara, we teach not much older than a dressing room full of hand -woven pulp. Some Alpaca shales and flame coats Then we walk to Devilluxury boutique for women, with necklaces of Inca inspiration, party dresses, fabric bracelets and, in the back, a tallercito where each garment is made.

At another lunch they tell us a story that often repeat in Bolivia. They say that the American astronaut Neil Armstrong saw the Salar de Uyuni from the moonthe largest in the world, 10,000 square kilometers, and was so fascinated by its beauty that He swore to visit him some day. (Finally he did, with his family.)

Like Armstrong before, Bolivia surprised me. Much of its culture seemed unlikely. Has grapes that should not growa gastronomy that rivals the best in South America But much less known, a rocky and demanding terrain that supports a robust agriculture. This corner of land populated by flames, flamingos and history is at the same time closer to heaven and deeply connected with their roots.

Danielle Pergament / The New York Times

Translation: Román García Azcárate