At 33 years old, Ana Paula Bartolucci is the new Chef de Cave of Chandon Argentina. And she is also the first woman to lead the oenology of the traditional sparkling house throughout the 64 years of history it has been in the country.
Born in San Martín, in eastern Mendoza, a vineyard area with a great wine culture, Ana Paula’s relationship with wine has been present since she was a child.
“My family is related to the wine industry through a foreign trade company, but none of them are winemakers. When I finished high school, one of the options was to study oenology.
My dad told me that if I was serious, through a friend of his he could get me into a winery to see if I liked it. This way I was able to learn, be in the laboratory, see the entire operation. I realized that it was what I liked, that The work was very dynamic, not routine at all. It was great because I didn’t have to be behind a deskso I started studying at the Don Bosco Faculty and there I ended up falling in love with oenology,” he tells Viva.
After years of study and some internships in Argentine wineries, he traveled to South Africa to do a season of oenology and then to Spain:
“I worked in a very small warehouse. The owner let me do and undo, and there I also found a way to communicate the wines, which I really like. I had the chance to stay, but I had the thesis to finish my degree, so I decided to return to close a stage. I worked for a full year in a winery in the Uco Valley and the possibility of entering Chandon opened up.”
At only 27 years old and with little experience in the world of bubbles, after a long selection process, he joined a consolidated team led by Chef de Cave Onofre Arcos.
“I think they chose me because, at a certain point, companies need people to renew their energy. Having a younger head and being a woman also made the difference. I defend that one always has to show oneself and be as one is,” he says.
Learn from the teachers
And he adds about his beginnings at work: “Onofre is a very excellent person. To this day we still stay in touch and I love that. We love each other beyond work. He is one of the fathers of Argentine oenology. At first, I was very nervous. Knowing that he had already been 40 years old and was close to retiring, I told him: ‘Onofre, I have to learn everything from you before you leave.’ And he laughed.
He is a superlative taster. Many times I prepared blind tastings for him to see if I could fool him., but he took out exactly what he had poured into the glass. I also learned a lot from Diego Ribbert, who succeeded Onofre. He is one of my mentors. He formed us as a team, with a holistic view of all work processes beyond oenology itself.
The technical part is key and you have to learn to have vision to choose the grapes from the vineyard, especially because in a sparkling wine it takes a lot of time to see the result of your product. It is a job that you have to learn from someone with experience.”
-Did you think you were going to become the fifth Chef de Cave in such a short time?
-No, it happened very quickly. It is a unique opportunity, a great responsibility and a recognition of the desire that I put into work, which occupies an important part of my life. I feel identified with the wines and the winery. Diego was in charge of training us well, it is a solid team and the reflection is that no one from outside has come.
-What is the biggest challenge you set for yourself?
-Maintain the personality and quality of the products. The Chandon brand seal, which has very high quality standards, is the main challenge. It is continuing the legacy of what we have been doing for years. From a personal point of view, I also have the objective of developing communication, showing even more what we do. Note that you can pair an entire meal with sparkling wine.
Probably, Many people are unaware that you can accompany meat with a sparkling wine. Communicate that experience that we do in the winery restaurant. And we are also going to continue with innovations.
-Speaking of innovations, one of the products you carried out was Apéritif, which had a great impact in Argentina and also in the foreign market. How was the development of a sparkling wine that had no precedent?
-As soon as I entered, that development began. It was something disruptive. Since I was the youngest of the team, I was researching the trends in the bars. and at that time there was the boom of spritzes, which, beyond sweetness, have bitterness in common. The challenge was how to develop a sparkling wine that had these characteristics. We tried lemons, grapefruits, until we settled on oranges.
We made different recipes and many things fell by the wayside. The fundamental thing was quality, that is why all the ingredients we use are natural. We do not buy essence, we control the raw materials. Now we have two harvests a year, the grape harvest and the orange harvest.
That it had that impact worldwide, which is known by the name of Chandon Garden Spritz, for us is the recognition that we longed for. France is the third largest consumer of Apéritif. With the champagne tradition that they have, it is super gratifying.
-You have the vineyards and the winery in Mendoza, what other area of Argentina would you be interested in working in?
-The first thing that comes to mind is the South; All the wines are beautiful, but those from there are different; You try something from that region and you realize that they are different.
-You have just begun this stage, but what legacy would you like to leave?
-Beyond the technical part, in which one can afford some whims or limited editions, I want to focus more on the human part. Transmit the values that Diego left us, to train ourselves and have another vision of things. Stop to look at what is happening, assemble teams.
-In your free time, what activities do you like to do and what is your grounding cable?
-My ground wire is my son Milo, almost two years old; I try to be with him all the time outside of my work. And I also like to run in the mountains, it is very typical of Mendoza to walk along the trails, climb hills and be in contact with nature.
