On a bustling night at New York’s Contento, a restaurant celebrated for its globe-trotting fare and wine program, head sommelier Abe Zarate faces a problem from diners desirous to strive a wine much like the sunshine, fruity profiles of Pinot Noir or Beaujolais. “I’ve simply the factor,” Zarate says, excited to introduce a singular discover. “It is a Mexican wine constituted of the Misión grape.”
He pours a vibrant purple, sharing the epic story of the grape, often known as Listán Prieto in Spain. Its journey started within the arid plains of Castilla-La Mancha, moved to the Canary Islands, and at last throughout to the Americas. In Mexico, the place it’s often known as Misión, Listán Prieto has sparked a renaissance amongst these eager to expertise a chunk of viticultural historical past.
Rising up between Mexico and Texas, Zarate feels a deep connection to this grape, seeing parallels along with his personal cultural narrative of migration, adaptation, and reclamation. The range gives a mix of novel and acquainted flavors—fruity and lightweight with a country edge, positioned between Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Grenache. The wine Zarate pours is vivid with summery purple fruit—simple ingesting however beneficiant on the palate, with a tart juiciness and delicate, earthy undertones.
It’s turning into extra widespread to discover a gemlike this in eating places and wine bars. Listán Prieto is experiencing a revival in areas from Chile to California. This motion is not only about rediscovering a forgotten selection; it’s about redefining viticultural values and difficult what customers contemplate worthy of their glasses. Zarate’s enthusiasm for sharing wines from the Americas, with deep historic roots, is impressed by the enduring tales these outdated vines can inform— “tales of survival and resilience,” he says. “They’re residing historical past.”
Following Hernán Cortés’ early Sixteenth-century conquest, a profound cultural and agricultural transformation unfolded in Mexico, then often known as New Spain. The introduction of Vitis vinifera, together with the Listán Prieto grape, within the colonized areas signified the start of winemaking within the Americas. In 1524, as governor and captain-general of New Spain, Cortés mandated that Spanish settlers plant vineyards to maintain their communities and fulfill the sacramental wants of the rising Catholic church. He decreed that 1,000 vine cuttings be planted yearly for each 100 individuals within the colonized settlements. This order quickly expanded viticulture throughout the colonial territory, making Listán Prieto, and later varieties like Muscat de Alexandria and Palomino, foundational to those early vineyards.
As winery cultivation elevated, the standard and quantity of Mexican wine started to rival these of Spanish imports, posing an financial menace to the Spanish crown. In 1595, King Philip II restricted the institution of recent vineyards, making certain the colonies remained reliant on Spanish wine. In 1699, King Charles II additional restricted native wine manufacturing to spiritual makes use of. Though these decrees considerably hampered the event of a neighborhood wine trade, the usage of the Mission or Misión grape—as Listán Prieto grew to become recognized for its affiliation with the Catholic church—remained important. It tailored nicely to central Mexico’s excessive altitudes and various climates, turning into integral to colonial agriculture.
Over centuries, this grape was a part of the evolution of Mexican winemaking, from its colonial origins to its trendy renaissance. Right now, areas similar to Baja California, Coahuila, Guanajuato, and Querétaro boast vibrant wine scenes led by a brand new technology of winemakers at institutions like Viñas del Tigre, Palafox, Bichi Wines, and Bodegas de Santo Tomás. These vintners, every working with the grape in some capability, are innovating and redefining Mexico’s viticultural id.
Within the Guadalupe Valley, Bodegas de Santo Tomás, established in 1888 by Dominican missionaries, stands as one of many area’s oldest wineries. Positioned close to Ensenada, near the Pacific, the vineyards get pleasure from cool ocean breezes that mood the arid regional warmth. Varieties grown embody Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and Chenin Blanc, however a historic part is devoted to Misión. Courting again greater than 130 years, the part was replanted in 2006 to proceed producing the vineyard’s “Mission Purple.”
“It’s our entry-level wine due to its approachability,” says Guillermo Tortoledo Lucero, worldwide model supervisor for Santo Tomás. “It’s gentle and straightforward, interesting to a lot of our prospects, and ideal for having fun with by itself.” Tortoledo Lucero additionally highlights the symbolic significance of the wine. “Talking in regards to the Misión grape means speaking in regards to the starting of the Santo Tomás Valley and our origins,” he says. “The dedication to taking good care of the vineyards of the unique mission is an integral a part of our historical past and legacy.”
Certainly, Mexico’s wine historical past vastly influenced each North and South America. As Dale Ott, co-owner of Tucson-based Nossa Imports, sees it, it was foundational. “Mexico notably fills out the worldwide story of wine because the oldest ‘New World’ wine-growing area, with Listán Prieto because the cornerstone,” says Ott. She and her husband, Stephen, are sommeliers-turned-importers keen about spotlighting Mexican and Portuguese wine areas. “After we delved into Mexican wines a decade in the past, we have been stunned by how little was recognized about this historical past,” Ott notes.
Right now, Listán Prieto symbolizes Mexican viticultural resilience and innovation, forging a singular wine legacy spanning greater than 4 centuries. Because the grape journeyed by means of the Americas, it moved northward with Spanish missionaries and settlers. By 1629, this hearty vine had taken root in what’s now the US, notably in New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley and close to modern-day El Paso, Texas.
New Mexico is poised to have a good time 400 years of viticultural historical past. Though the Mission grape is not a main focus, with just a few acres planted, it continues to be acknowledged for its historic significance. Amongst its proponents is Richard McDonald, a winemaker and owner-partner at Rio Grande Vineyard in Las Cruces, who sources Mission grapes from Tularosa Vineyards. Right here the grapes thrive, suited to New Mexico’s local weather and proof against mildew and illness because of their unfastened bunch formation.
“It’s a straightforward grape to work with,” McDonald says. “It ferments like a dream, producing a lightweight, easy-drinking wine with good acidity, splendid for pairing with native delicacies, Tex-Mex, and barbecue.”
His fascination with the grape’s adaptability to the recent, arid circumstances of the Rio Grande Valley has led him to take a proactive step—planting property vines. He hopes this would be the first step in revitalizing the heritage grape within the area, to additional understanding and promote its potential.
Although New Mexico technically noticed the delivery of its viticultural heritage greater than 100 years earlier than the Spanish missions would convey it to California, the dominance of California’s trendy wine trade has allowed a fantastic diploma of exploration in numerous grape varieties. In recent times, the Mission grape has skilled a resurgence within the state, valued by artisan wineries like Story Wines, Harrington Wines, and Sandlands Vineyards for its historic significance and distinctive taste profile.
Throughout the pandemic, California winemaker Rajat Parr deepened his curiosity in farming by founding Phelan Farm close to Cambria, in San Luis Obispo County. Impressed by a visit to the Canary Islands, Parr consulted Tegan Passalacqua of Sandlands Vineyards to find historic Mission vines planted in 1854 at Deaver Ranch in Amador County. “These could also be someof North America’s oldest producing Mission vineyards,” says Parr.
Parr additionally ventured to revive a uncared for winery in Temecula, planted within the late 1800s at an outdated website known as Moon Ranch on a Pechanga Band of Indians reservation. This website revealed Mission vines and pure hybrids, providing distinctive viticultural alternatives. Harvesting the winery entails distinctive challenges, notably timing the harvest to outpace native fauna. “We’ve to choose earlier than the coyotes eat the grapes,” Parr explains.
In Argentina, Malbec has lengthy been the star. However over the previous decade, Criolla grape varieties—initially launched by the Spanish within the Sixteenth century and evolving by means of quite a few hybrids and mutations—have come to signify a big a part of the nation’s viticultural heritage. A complete decade-long examine by the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) and different educational our bodies revealed the range of those historic grapes, figuring out about 49 distinct Criolla varieties, together with 34 beforehand unknown. They embody Torrontés, a well-liked fragrant white grape; Criolla Grande, extensively used for bulk wine; and Criolla Chica, one other alias for Listán Prieto.
Main producers like Catena Zapata, Durigutti, Passionate Wine, and Sebastián Zuccardi of Zuccardi Household Wines are showcasing the potential of those varieties to enchantment to a world market looking for distinctive and climate-resilient wines. Sebastián Zuccardi, in collaboration with Marcela Manini, Nuria Añó Gargiulo, and Pancho Bugallo, launched the Cara Sur model in 2013 in Calingasta Valley, north of Mendoza, to protect Criolla Chica’s historical past.
“It’s necessary to acknowledge the deep historical past of viticulture in Argentina that predates the popularization of French grape varieties,” Zuccardi says. “Understanding Criolla Chica’s origins is significant, because it types an integral a part of our viticultural id.”
Zuccardi’s workforce has devoted the previous decade to rejuvenating outdated vineyards and finding out Criolla Chica’s adaptability. He’s optimistic in regards to the potential of those grapes, particularly in areas much less suited to Malbec. “I’ve been amazed on the high quality Criolla Chicacan produce,” says Zuccardi. “The present market wishes wines with much less focus and alcohol, favoring lighter, extra drinkable varieties. This has paved the best way for grapes like Criolla Chica to make a comeback.”
West of the Andes, in Chile, Listán Prieto, recognized domestically as País, has develop into a typical fixture on wine lists in Santiago, and bottles are more and more coming into the export market. Chile’s trendy viticultural panorama has been dominated by French varieties similar to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carménère, much like Argentina’s deal with Malbec and lengthy overshadowing the story of País. However a devoted group of vintners has dedicated to preserving heritage vines similar to País, and the grape has been present in outdated vineyards stretching far south alongside the Pacific shoreline, from the cooler areas of Bío Bío Valley and south-central Itata, in addition to within the hotter area of Maule.
South of Santiago, the De Martino household owns vineyards in each the Maipo Valley and Itata Valley, the place they’ve revived a number of Carignan and País vineyards courting again greater than 70 and 150 years, respectively. Sebastián De Martino and his brother, Marco Antonio, view discovering these outdated vineyards as uncovering buried treasure, a possibility to reconnect with the Spanish historical past of South American viticulture. “These vines signify part of our previous that we’ve got to protect,” says Sebastián De Martino, whose single-vineyard País is aptly named “Las Olvidadas” or ‘The Forgotten.’”
He attributes the longevity of those vineyards to the cooler coastal local weather and ample rain of the Itata vineyards, noting that these sturdy, disease-resistant vines produce distinctive wine—vibrant with purple fruit character however elegant in construction. As with different descriptions of Listán Prieto and its many aliases, these wines hover in likeness to Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, and even lighter kinds of Grenache. De Martino likes to counsel one other similarity: “I believe good País has the potential to make high quality wines like Barolo,” he says. “We simply want extra time to grasp it.”
De Martino isn’t the one País evangelist. Others like Leonardo Erazo, Roberto Henríquez Ascencio, Pedro Parra, and Spain-based Miguel Torres are additionally champions of the grape. At Miguel Torres’ Chile vineyard, winemaker Eduardo Jordán is a staunch advocate. “To reestablish País as one of the crucial necessary varieties within the historical past of Chilean wine, it is very important understand it nicely and to respect its principal traits which have made it the range with the longest existence in our nation—virtually 500 years,” explains Jordán. A standout is the Miguel Torres Millapoa País, produced from 150-year-old vines grown on basaltic sands and granitic soils close to the Bío Bío River. “País can present completely different faces relying on the place it’s grown, however sometimes its wines have low or reasonable alcohol content material, low pure acidity, rustic tannins, and sometimes a lighter shade,” says Jordán. “These are integral components of the grape’s DNA.”
The resurgence of Listán Prieto gives vital advantages to winemakers within the Americas, notably its illness resistance and drought tolerance, making it splendid for areas just like the southwestern United States and Baja California. This hardy, vigorous grape sustains long-lived vines, presenting a sustainable choice for winemakers in unstable climates. And the wines themselves are gaining renewed appreciation for his or her distinctive style and high quality.
Nonetheless, the grape faces hurdles that impede wider acceptance. The myriad of aliases for Listán Prieto throughout the Americas creates confusion, complicating its market recognition. Shoppers typically search for acquainted names like Napa Cab or Bordeaux, and aligning the assorted regional identities below the Listán Prieto title is difficult.
What the grape does have is a narrative—certainly one of adaptability and the enduring energy of viticultural heritage. Its journey serves as an inspiration to these like sommelier Abe Zarate, who’re keen about sharing the wealthy tapestry of wine historical past with others. By embracing the potential of this exceptional grape and its regional expressions, winemakers not solely honor its previous however pave the best way for a future the place lesser-known varieties can thrive. With every pour of Misión, País, or Criolla Chica, Zarate and others proceed the journey of Listán Prieto. “It’s greater than only a wine,” Zarate says. “It’s a narrative of resilience and historical past.”
