Business case - Piattelli Vineyards

High quality wines from organic vineyards

June 2, 2010 by Ana Tagua | in Business

Piattelli Vineyards is a boutique winery that produces high quality wines from organic grapes. It is located in one of the most prestigious winemaking areas: Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo. Its main goal is to invite the world to discover its wines, customs, respect for nature and people.

The winery´s vineyards are located in two of the provinces most identified with the production of high quality Argentinian wines: Mendoza and Salta. At the same time, within both provinces, their vineyards are located in privileged zones for grape growing: Agrelo (32 hectares) and Cafayate (95 hectares). The grape varieties are Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Torrontés, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Tannat.

Jon Malinski, Piattelli´s US owner, visited Argentina for the first time in 2002. He fell in love with this country and especially with Mendoza, where he bought the vineyard situated in Cobos Street, in the same year, and started to produce high quality wines. In 2004 the winery building started but then, in 2008, it drastically changed including new areas for tourism, offices, tanks and cellars. Finally, Piattelli Vineyards opened its doors to the public in 2009.

Even though the winery’s style reflects the past, the winemaking process is quite modern. The combination of traditional methods and state-of-the-art technology aims at making high quality wines. The current capacity is 442,675 liters, distributed in stainless steel tanks (407,800 liters), designed to maximize the contact of the must with the skin during fermentation, and in French and American oak barrels (34,875 liters) until the optimum maturity level is reached.

The concept that guides Piattelli wines is the one of “organic production”, conceived through a combination of soil nourished only with natural manure and several winter prunings that limit the yield. This winemaking process, focused on treating grapes with great care as well as a complete control of every vinification stage, results in powerful wines with high concentration of aromas and flavors.

As regards Piattelli wines, the line Premium Piattelli includes the varietals Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Torrontés and Chardonnay ($ 55). The line Grand Reserve includes Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon ($ 85), and the most expensive wine is the Blend Trinitá which combines the best harvests of the year ($110).

Among the several international awards achieved by Piattelli Vineyards, we can mention the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals granted by Florida International Wine Challenge to the wines Premium Malbec 2006, Premium Torrontés 2008 and Grand Reserve Malbec 2007, respectively.

Moreover, Piattelli wines have got high scores in well known international magazines such as Wine & Spirits (90 points for the Premium Torrontés 2008), Wine Enthusiast (89 points for the wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 and Premium Malbec 2007, and 92 points for the Grand Reserve Malbec 2007) and Wine Spectator (88 points for the Premium Torrontés 2008 and Premium Chardonnay 2008, 89 points for the Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 90 points for the Grand Reserve Trinita 2007 and 92 points for the Grand Reserve Malbec 2007).

Concerning numbers, it is important to highlight the fact that Piattelli`s annual production was of 230,000 liters in 2009 and the annual exports were around 500,000 dollars.

Strong presence in the US market

Currently, the winery is focused on the US market, including 95% of its sales with the brands Piattelli and Loscano. However, Iván Chaud, Piattelli`s Administrative Manager pointed out that the winery is also present in the domestic market with the line Piattelli and it aims to reach new markets such as Brazil and United Kingdom.

As regards the winery`s strategy, Chaud highlighted that Piattelli`s goal is to make high quality wines with an excellent price-quality ratio. “We aim to increase our sales volume and to keep the same high quality standards with very good prices, even in the current crisis time,” explained Chaud.

Finally, concerning the prospects for the second half of the year, the Administrative Manager of the winery pointed out two strong points to bear in mind: “The first one is that there are very good prospects for growth in the exports sector, considering the consolidation of our business relations with the US distribution chains, and the second one is that we have started to build our second winery in the Cafayate Valley, in Salta.”