Alejandro Viggiani
Chief Winemaker
The Tilia wines are made by Alejandro Viggiani, a winemaker and viticulturalist in charge of all Catena family vineyards in eastern Mendoza. Alejandro graduated with honors from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He continued his education in the Viticulture and Winemaker Masters program jointly held by the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and the prestigious Ecole National Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier, specializing in Vine Physiology.
Upon the start of Viggiani’s career, the predominant vineyard structure in the Eastern region was the pergola overhead trellising system and very sparse plantation density. These two factors served the region very well during the time of large volume table wine production. Alejandro was convinced that he could build upon these traditional practices in order to improve the quality of fruit from the region.
Alejandro began extensive experimentation with the pergola trellising system designed to find the optimum relationship between canopy surface area and yield. He made important adjustments to reign in the size of the canopy and compensate for the smaller yields from each vine. The result was higher concentration in the fruit.
Alejandro also began looking at the practices of plantation density. His theory was that if density was increased, the vines would enter into increased competition with each other. This competition would help to reduce vine vigor and yield. The trials were a complete success, and many vineyards in the Eastern region are now being adapted or planted to higher density plantation.
Over the last five years Alejandro has also been captivated with the dynamic nature of the Southern region in Mendoza. A very traditional area for Malbec, he has worked hard on the resurrection of this area as a premium grape growing region. He spends many afternoons at the local diners, talking with viticulturalists in search of responsible growers he can work with to produce Tilia wines.
Named after the Tilia (Linden) tree commonly found throughout Argentina’s wine country, Tilia wines possess true varietal character and embody the rural Mendozean lifestyle. For years vineyard workers have used the flowers of the Tilia to make an herbal tea for enjoyment after a hard day’s work. The name Tilia is chosen in honor of this wine country tradition.
The Tilia wines are made at Bodegas Esmeralda, a Catena family winery in the Eastern region of Mendoza that is dedicated to making value wines for the Argentine domestic market. Tilia wines offer a unique combination of fruit sourced from the traditional Eastern region and the dynamic Southern region of Mendoza. The Eastern region of Mendoza enjoys warm, sunny days and cool desert nights. The grapes have very ripe, rich fruit flavors and excellent mid-palate depth and concentration. Bright sunshine and low temperatures of the Southern region lend a cool freshness. The fruit from this area shows clean acid balance and soft, supple tannins.
Tilia is dedicated to responsible use of the environment. The winemaking and viticultural team actively engage in many practices and programs throughout the community to implement sustainability. Water conservation and reuse, minimal use of pesticides and organic fertilization are several examples of the team’s dedication. Furthermore, the entire Tilia viticultural team attends regular sustainability training sessions at the National University of Cuyo and National Agricultural Research Institute. They take this training into the field to share and implement with their grower partners.
