FERNANDO MORA, FIRST MASTER OF WINE FROM ARAGÓN
Fernando Mora, the first Aragonese Master of Wine shares his vision and experiences in the world of wine
Feeling passion for what you do, it is not enough to be the best, but someone who loves your work. If we add study, effort, struggle, perseverance and, above all, conviction and time to that passion, you make a difference. That is the case of Fernando Mora, from Zaragoza, Aragonese Master of Wine and great passionate about terroir, wines and viticulture techniques from different areas of the planet, although, as he says: «I have always been in love with Aragón and when I started to get to know our vineyards in the area, the stories of the people and the wineries, I wanted to stay here even more».
Mora has travelled all over the world praising our wines and carries the Garnacha as his flagship: «we have to be proud of the wines of Aragón for several reasons. When you do something and you do it well, you have to be satisfied with it, because when it comes to wine, for example, we manage to fix the population in the territory. In other words, anything that is good for the agri-food industry prevents people from leaving and creates jobs and value. We ensure that the countryside and the mountains do not become unproductive and are abandoned. And, above all, we should be very proud of all those generations who, over long periods, have invested time and money in creating a wine industry, which we can take advantage of and continue. The wines of Aragón are a combination of lands, people and tradition».
His tenacity and interest in knowing everything about wine, led him to obtain, in just three years, the prized title of Master of Wine that only 380 people around the world hold: five are in Spain and two of them make wine in Aragón. Without hesitation, he changed engineering overnight for the broad knowledge and freedom that the land and the vine gave him.
Mora recognises that he has spent many weeks away from home in the last five years. «In 2016 I was 35 weeks away from my house, either to study the Master of Wine or to sell the wines. Honestly, how they welcome Aragonese wine depends a lot on the markets. Aragón is known for its mid-range or entry-level wines, because we have very good fruit for those qualities. It costs us very little to produce good grapes and achieve mid-range wines, but as soon as we go up to the top end of the range, we are still unknown. There have been projects like Alto Moncayo that have obtained a lot of recognition, but that is an exception. The reality is that in many countries Spain, Rioja, Cava, Jerez and Tempranillo are the words they know. And lately, Garnacha can also be added, but there is a long way to go before they understand what is really produced in Aragón».
PROJECTS WITH ARAGONESE LABEL
His first project was Latidos de Vino, which he launched together with his friends Aitor Ágreda, Gonzalo Valero, the winemaker Mario López and the international lawyer Francisco Latasa. «We even presented it in Manhattan. It was a great learning experience» Mora says. «We worked in underground cement winepresses, a large stainless tank or two, and a manual bottle-to-bottle bottling machine. We launched the wine at a price that competed with large wineries, and then we realized that it was impossible. So we took one of the oldest vineyards that Mario’s family was working with, we vinified it separately in barrels without a lid and with this we got a wine that we call Frontonio», recalls the Master of Wine, who says that the name was chosen by the sommelier Jesús Solanas, another singular talent we have in Aragón.
«Solanas told us the legend that Frontonio was a martyr whose head was cut off and it was found upstream instead of downstream. So we decided to call ourselves that because we always go against the current», assures Mora.
Frontonio was the first wine they managed to include on the menu of a restaurant with two Michelin stars: Mugaritz, thanks to Guillermo Cruz, one of the best sommeliers in Spain and a young Aragonese talent, who values Aragón around the world.
«This wine was worth five, six or seven times more than the wine we were selling so far. Then, we discovered that there was a small, tough and difficult market in which you could make things of value, position them in the market, and be proud of doing it. Because we make this wine in a barrel without a lid, putting the grapes inside, doing it in a different way than what we were used to», says Mora.
One of the secrets of the success of the team made up of Fernando Mora, Mario López and Francisco Latasa has been to learn from many techniques and tools from outside and then put them into practice in their projects in Aragón. «We have managed to tread about 10.000 kilos on foot and I have been to 80% of the world’s wine-growing areas. Study and work have always gone hand in hand. Clay, cement, wood and stainless steel are tools, so you have to know which grapes and which wine you have, in order to know where to place them, to get the best out of them. Wine is not a living being, but we work with it as such, since what it needs is to breathe», he points out.
THE ESSENCE OF ARAGÓN
Mora tells how in 1898, the wealthy people planted in the lower parts of the slopes and the poorest in the higher parts, because they were the ones that were not cultivated due to their difficulty. Only vines, olives and almond trees could be planted on poor land. At that time, he says, Valdejalón was the wine-growing area of Aragón where most grapes were produced. «People planted here because they knew it was the best place: the poor soils with the most difficult exposures». One of Mora, López y Latasa’s emblematic projects was born from these places: the Jardín de las Iguales, located in the Zaragoza town of Alpartir, where centenary vineyards of Garnacha and Macabeo coexist in Precambrian lands with unique slates. «Two wines are produced here: a white one made with Macabeo and a red one made with Garnacha and other planted varieties. They are very special wines that are aimed at a very exclusive audience and we are fortunate that the most important wine guide in the world, Robert Parker’s, has scored them, in its latest edition, with 96 points, which means that they are the best rated wines of our land and we are very proud of this », says Mora.
Fernando Mora says that the uniqueness of these wines is that when you smell a Garnacha that has grown in the Jardín de las Iguales, you feel a more ethereal, more energetic wine, with more notes of tea leaf, thyme and flowers, with much less color and in which the wood is hardly noticeable.
For them, it is one of those small vineyards that are worth visiting and they are proud to be able to recover the tradition of this valley. “We look back in order to move forward, that’s why we make wines in the traditional way as they were made before, but with the knowledge we have today. This vineyard is 11 hectares, but only 1.7 hectares are used for the Jardines de las Iguales and for the 2018 vintage, which is the one now on the market, we have produced 1,000 bottles of white wine and 587 bottles of red. These are small productions that we sell by quotas and that are destined for different countries. In addition, we have positioned them in the best restaurants in the world such as El Celler de Can Roca, Martín Berasategui, ABaC or Tickets, among others”, he concludes.
If he had to make wines outside of Aragón, Mora recognises that he would love to do it in Borgoña, Piedmont, Ribera Sacra, Douro or Priorat. «Borgoña is the area that for me makes the most elegant wines in the world. Sometimes they are misunderstood because they have little color, little alcohol, but less is more. And as for the others, they are mountain areas with slopes, dry walls, terraces, which are parts of the elements that fascinate me about wine», he replied.
Aragón is felt on the web. Fernando Mora is a wine «Influencer» on social networks. His live streaming on Instagram during the confinement became a meeting point for thousands of professionals and wine lovers, from all continents, who have chatting with him daily, sharing their experiences and generating interesting debates about the culture of wine in the world.
Currently, Mora makes its mark in Aragón, through three different projects: Frontonio, Cuevas de Arom and the Jardín de las Iguales, with wines made in several prestigious wine-growing areas of our region such as: Valdejalón, Calatayud or Campo de Borja. From Aragón Alimentos, we wish you to continue to continue to be successful and highlighting Aragón as a land of wine and talent.