There are a handful of impressive father-and-son winemaking teams in Argentina, but perhaps the most influential of all is that of Roberto de la Mota and his father, the late Raul de la Mota, one of the country’s most famous winemakers of the 20th century.
De la Mota likes to joke that he was practically born in the cellar. It does indeed seem that winemaking runs in his blood, and he spent much of his childhood alongside his father in the cellar, learning about winemaking from a tender age—and with a great maestro.
Although there is no questioning his pedigree, it is also through his own dedication and hard graft that de la Mota has become one of the greatest forces in Argentina’s wine industry today. He had an early exposure to the world of French wine, studying in Montpellier and being mentored by legendary winemaker Émile Peynaud, a friend of his father’s.
While in France, de la Mota learned about the importance of different clones and grape varieties, as well as the use of American rootstock; in the late 1980s, he imported Argentina’s first American rootstocks, alongside many new grape varieties, including Cabernet Franc, Viognier, and Petit Manseng. He also brought in superior clones of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. Within three years, he had imported more than one million plants and set a path that changed the genetic composition of Argentina’s vineyards forever.
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Although keen to innovate where there are gaps in knowledge, de la Mota has also been a loyal defender of the classics and of existing assets. “I brought in new clones of Pinot Noir because we didn’t have good-quality clones at the time,” he explains. “But in the case of Malbec, we already had a great genetic richness within Argentina, so using our own massal selection was the obvious choice.”
De la Mota also revived less obvious traditional grape varieties for Argentina. In 2009, he started vinifying old vines of Semillon, and his Mendel Wines helped put this abandoned variety back on the vinous map. “I had made Semillon with my father many years ago, and I remembered that it had always given good results,” he recalls. “It is a traditional variety of Mendoza, and it arrived at the same time as Malbec, more than 150 years ago.” Although he admits that the first few years of selling these varietal wines was a challenge, de la Mota gradually started making leeway in the markets; today, Semillon is one of the most exciting white varieties of Argentina—powerful and complex.
For the past few years, de la Mota has also turned his hand to reviving the fortunes of Chenin Blanc, another undervalued but historically widely planted variety in Argentina. “I think these are really interesting varieties to show the great viticultural richness we have.”
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Today, he is focusing his efforts on reviving the fortunes of the old vines of Malbec in Luján de Cuyo, which are rapidly losing ground. “We have to give value to, and preserve, the patrimony of these old vines of Malbec in Luján,” he urges. “We are losing these old vines to the building of private neighborhoods [housing], and we cannot sit back without fighting for them.”
Although de la Mota has always had an eye on innovation and progress, it is his keen appreciation and respect for the classics—and his willingness to get into the trenches and work for them—that have made him one of the strongest driving forces in Argentine wine today.
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