A purple wine grape with centuries of historical past all through the Americas, Mission goes by a number of names. You would possibly hear it referred to as Listán Prieto in Spain or Mexico, Criolla Chica in Argentina, País in Chile, and Misión or Mission in Mexico and the USA. Many consider the grape originated in Spain’s Canary Islands and made its method throughout the Atlantic within the fifteenth century.
Lately, winemakers from southern Chile to the Pacific coasts of Mexico and California have been embracing the centuries-old grape in completely fashionable methods. Author Jessica Dupuy examines this motion in her characteristic, “Grape on a Mission,” within the September/October 2024 difficulty of Imbibe.
Subsequent-generation Mission wines are a various lot, spanning zippy rosés, wealthy reds, and light-bodied, ruby-hued wines which are particularly refreshing when chilled. They could hail from regenerative or natural farms, be rigorously blended with far-flung or indigenous grape varieties, and bear minimal-intervention winemaking. Listed below are 5 bottles to get to know the brand new wave of Mission wines.mimi fortress
Bichi Listán 2022
From the granite, loamy soils of Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico, comes this contemporary, ruby-hued wine. It’s dry-farmed on high-elevation plots, fermented with native yeasts, and aged in each stainless and impartial oak barrels. Gentle-bodied and easy-drinking, it has peppery purple fruit flavors and a refreshingly salty end. Serve it with a chill alongside tamales, burgers, or just about something that comes off the grill at a cookout. $35.99, astorwines.com
Catena Zapata La Marchigiana Criolla Chica 2020
This tart rosé from an esteemed Argentine vineyard has a savory character. Lemon rind and briny herbs offset ripe strawberries and raspberries. The grapes develop in a loamy, sandy winery in Mendoza and are fermented in clay pots. The outcomes are vibrant, balanced, and food-friendly. Pair this wine with all the things from root veggies to roast pork to pizza. $21.95, empirewine.com
Scythian Wine Co. Lone Wolf 2022
Celebrated winemaker Rajat Parr created this single-vineyard Californian purple from a singular assortment of Mission grapes. Planted in 1896, and untended for many years, among the grapes interbred with indigenous varieties, making a dynamic wine with tart cherry and lemon flavors and ample acidity. The fruit for Lone Wolf is hand-harvested, fermented in chrome steel, and completed in impartial oak barrels. $64.99, dtwine.com
De Martino Los Olvidadas
The grapes for this low-intervention purple wine develop on hundred-year-old vines in Chile’s southern Itata Valley, lower than 15 miles from the Pacific coast. All are hand-harvested and fermented with native yeasts, then aged in French oak barrels for a yr. Los Olvidadas, which interprets to “the forgotten,” makes use of País alongside San Francisco, a grape grown in Chile because the 1640s, in keeping with historians. It has elegant purple fruit flavors and velvety tannins on the lengthy, dry end. $38.04, decantalo.com
Viñas del Tigre Zopilote 2022
A mix of Listán Prieto and Tempranillo, this organically farmed, limited-production purple wine from Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe has spicy, smoky, and fruity flavors. The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented with native yeast individually in two kinds of vessel: chrome steel for Listán and French oak for Tempranillo). Malolactic fermentation earlier than bottling creates built-in tannins and a easy, velvety end. $47.99, mexicanwine.us
