Erik Plata grew up in Cuernavaca, studied hospitality and gastronomy there, and in 2005, while pursuing his degree, he set out in search of a passion. Initially, he thought it was gastronomy, and that's why he did internships in Ixtapa and Cancun. While looking for a way to get to Los Cabos, one of his teachers, who was familiar with Valle de Guadalupe, changed his perspective and destiny. She told him about a project colloquially known as "La escuelita," a project dedicated to teaching the basics of wine and its production to anyone who arrived. So Erik applied, arrived in the summer of 2005, and from there everything went uphill: he took the course at "La escuelita," worked at Casa de Piedra for a while, made his first barrel of Grenache, and then returned to finish his degree. The same thing happened to Erik as it did to many others – once he arrived in the valley, the valley didn't let him go. He completed his degree, worked at a restaurant until the Basque government and the government of Morelos offered him a scholarship to go to Rioja, Spain, where he spent 8 months taking courses in viticulture and enology. Then he returned to the valley and in 2009 started his winery "Vinos Plata" while still working at VYVA, a project led by Hugo D’Acosta.
Plata Wines embody what wine is for Mexico, a place of experimentation and improvisation with incredible and unique results. Erik understands the land and how to work it, which is why he trusts time during his winemaking process, and as he rightly says, time provides identity. Now that wine is still young in Mexico, experimentation is necessary, one must play with possibilities to have a wine identity. Plata doesn't like using trendy grapes because he knows that trends change quickly, and participating in them doesn't bring value or identity. At Dos Cuerpos, we used to handle two of his labels, which exemplify the essential differences between a young wine and an aged wine. First, there's the Plata .925, excellent for those who enjoy a fruity, young, and approachable wine for any palate. We also handled the Plata Pura, a more complex, robust, and interesting wine.
At Dos Cuerpos, we no longer handle Plata wine because his project has managed to position itself as one of the best national wines. That's why we have taken separate paths, so that we can focus on promoting new projects. Still, we wish this great project all the luck and success.
Commentaires