Twitter Talk: SommChat With Aurelio Montes of Kaiken Wines

Winemaker for Argentina's Kaiken Winery (and former amateur boxer) Aurelio Montes stopped by SommChat on Twitter to talk about from Malbec and Mendoza to pruning and punching. Here's a recap of the best tweets.

Mendoza. More than Malbec?

@myvinespot Depend from where in mendoza, but the one im working with, is for 100% pure petit V. not blender. #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

@SandyWasserman YES!!! Petit verdot, cab. franc and merlot are amazing, bonarda still need to discover his potential. #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

@wineandgoodfood we are working as the new generation on new amazing varieties, like petit verdot and cab. franc #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

Bonarda and the blend:

@WineOhTV Bonarda it's the silky component of the blend, very soft and spicy. #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

The first cut is the deepest:

@ShibaSommelier by far the hardest is the prunning, in one cut you define the complete season #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

Release the Kaiken! (Note: Kaikenes are wild geese, indigenous to Patagonia.)

@ShibaSommelier we export to more than 60 countries, The USA, Germany an Japan are the most important for us. #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

Can you be a little more specific?

@noblewines unfortunatelly it's not regulated, so we can't do it. We are working on it #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

The Equalizer:

@JDewps very complicated to answer here, we work in the vinyard looking for balance. Equilibrated vine gives equilibrated wines. #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

Torrontes: Turn down the heat, you're killing me!

@myvinespot I love torrontes, very hard to produce, needs to be in the perfect terroir like salta, warmer weather kills the fruit #SommChat
— Kaiken Wines (@KaikenWines) April 16, 2014

A puncher's chance: