Realistic idealist

Realistic idealist

The man has many lives: He was a musician and video artist as well as a professional poker player and golfer. Dieter Meier now owns one hundred polo ponies, is a big landowner and runs an organic cattle ranch as well as sheep farm, grows soy beans, linseed and maize organically and calls an organic vineyard his own – and all of this in Argentina.

In Zurich, he is the owner of the "Bärengasse" restaurant and a delicatessen with his own products, which has the same name as his Argentinian vineyard: "Ojo de Agua" (eye of water).

"As soon as I master something, I have to start something new." Meier considers himself a mountain climber: addicted to climbing unknown peaks to learn something new about himself. "I am an idealist as long as I can afford to be. And I take care that the idealist in me does not kiss the realist to death."

With the goal of combining oenology and ecology, honouring nature and cultivating a product, he makes wine from Malbec and Cabernet-Sauvignon grapes in Alto Agrelo in the Argentinian region of Mendoza, which are unique of their type. "Pleasure creates work" is his motto. A person can only enjoy things if he understands and recognises them. This applies to a string quartet playing Beethoven just as it does to wine, which tastes of grapes, fresh fruit and a hint of wood.

Alto Agrelo is considered the best wine-growing region in Mendoza. Many large producers buy their grapes there or even have their headquarters in the region. The dry, stony, sandy soil is extremely rich in minerals, a result of deposits left by the meltwater from the Andes over millions of years.

This meltwater also supplies the rivers and ground water reservoirs in the region, which the winegrowers use for irrigating their vineyards. Not much would grow without irrigation in this dusty, dry region. Only the careful, drop-by-drop supply of moisture ensures the regular quality of the grapes.

Three organic red wines from the year 2009 are currently available in Germany from Dieter Meier: "Puro Corte", "Puro Corte d’Oro" and "Puro Malbec".

More information is available at www.ojodevino.com/.

Text: Rainer Meier