2014 Las Rubias Red Blend Uco Valley 750 ml

On his first trips to South America, Rob Lawson couldn’t believe what he saw—or what he was tasting. Touring the Uco Valley in 2008, he saw vineyards and cellars in dire need of modernization and investment. But the wines he was drinking were spectacular, and the amount of unrealized potential was vast.

Starting as enologist and rising to CEO of Napa Wine Company—the most prestigious custom-crush operation in the world—Rob had a front-row seat to the world’s greatest winemaking talent: He saw winemakers like Helen Turley, Phillipe Melka, and Heidi Barrett every day during harvest, making labels like Colgin, Bryant Family, Staglin, and Pahlmeyer in his facility. 

When he left his role there, he immediately put himself on the map as a consulting winemaker for Kapcsándy’s 2007 vintage. That wine earned 100 points from Robert Parker himself. Rob was on a heater.

“Then I went down to Argentina to advise on a project,” he told us over lunch at Gott’s Roadside. “And all these vineyards just needed investment to modernize them. Same with the cellars. But it was clear that they could make absolutely world-class wine with better infrastructure.”

He hadn’t planned on farming his own vineyard, but quickly seized on an opportunity to plant seven acres, split between Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Depending on yields, the blend he makes varies slightly from year to year, and the 2014 is a 60/40 split. It’s his passion project, and he babied the grapes through sorting, fermentation, and elevage, eventually treating the 2014 to two years in 50% new French oak.