the wine advocate #203, october 31, 2012 - philipson wine
TRANSCRIPT
The Wine Advocate #203, October 31, 2012
EXCERPTS WITH ADDED ILLUSTRATIONS from: Neal Martin's reviews for "Making Malbec on the Moonscape: Argentina 2012" and his accompanying article.
Neal Martin Robert Parker
BODEGA CATENA ZAPATA
There is no need to introduce Catena Zapata. I visited the winery, which stands like an Egyptian pyramid looking for its sphynx, and spent the entire morning darting from one room to another tasting the entire portfolio of wines from the family. Naturally, it was an honor to meet Nicolas Catena himself, who has been instrumental in Argentina’s progress over the last three decades. But what is pleasing is to find such a famous winery refusing to rest upon its laurels and in fact, through the irrepressible head winemaker Alejandro Vigil, a man who patiently contemplates wines 24/7, Catena Zapata are looking forward and asking themselves questions about the style of wines they produce, what ought to be the next stage of their evolution, instead of merely replicating previous successes.
CATENA ZAPATA -‐ ZAPATA PLANT SELECTIONS Catena Zapata Adrianna Vineyard 2009 -‐ 97 points "It has a complex bouquet of blackberry, chalk dust, leather and the scent of an old English stately home. The palate is medium-‐bodied with a very taut, focused, tense entry. This has wonderful vivacity and outstanding minerality, the finish doing that rare thing of transporting you to its place, that is to say, high up in the Andes. You will be hard pressed to find a better Malbec than this." Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino 2009 -‐ 95 points "It has a more opulent bouquet than the individual blends, with dark cherries, iodine, minerals and blueberry that are all beautifully defined. The palate has a dense, weighty entry with layers of ripe blackberry and boysenberry fruit laced with crushed stone and a touch of graphite. The finish is supremely well-‐defined and focused, with immense length on the finish." Nicolas Catena Zapata 2009 -‐ 95 points "It has a spellbinding bouquet that exudes minerality, as if crushed stones had been sprinkled into the black fruit. With continued aeration, there are scents of oyster shell and black olive. The palate is full-‐bodied, with immense structure and backbone. The acidity is beautifully judged with filigree tannins that render the finish so elegant and refined, with notes of blackberry, soy, black plum and that stony aftertaste. Magnificent." Catena Zapata Nicasia Vineyard 2009 -‐ 94 points "It has a complex bouquet of blackberry, crushed stone, smoke and lavender that is beautifully defined and sophisticated. The palate is medium-‐bodied with grainy tannins. It is extremely well-‐balanced, with a broody, introverted, somehow enigmatic finish that you just want to keep sipping in order to unlock its secrets. Sublime." Catena Zapata White Bones Chardonnay 2009 -‐ 96 points “It has another bewitching bouquet of hazelnut, crushed stone and white peach that would shame many a Burgundy Grand Cru. The palate has a touch of honey and apricot on the entry. It is beautifully balanced with subtle white peach and apricot notes mingling with pear and quince towards the poised finish. Stunning.” Catena Zapata White Stones Chardonnay 2009 -‐ 95 points “It has a bouquet of light wild honey, honeysuckle and minerals that lend it a Corton-‐Charlemagne like complexity. The palate has a gorgeous brioche, hazelnut and toffee-‐tinged entry. It displays taut acidity and a harmonious, mineral-‐rich finish with hints of smoke and almond. Outstanding.”
CATENA ALTA -‐ HIGH ALTITUDE ROW SELECTIONS Catena Alta Malbec 2009 -‐ 94 points "It offers a gorgeous, pure, floral bouquet with ripe pomegranate and wild strawberry imbued with superb minerality and delineation. The palate is medium-‐bodied with a tense, almost broody entry. It is a classic Malbec, one you might almost think came from the Old World, underpinned by great structure and a sense of masculinity. Yet it is superbly balanced with plenty of ripe, earthy black fruit laced with tar and tobacco towards the long, rather aristocratic finish. Excellent." Catena Alta Chardonnay 2010 -‐ 93 points "Offers wild honey, jasmine, nectarine and crushed stone aromas that are well-‐defined. The palate has good weight on the entry, with subtle notes of orange zest, dried apricot, quince and shaved ginger. It builds in the mouth, delivering a very focused, intense finish that you could say, sits comfortably between Old World and New." Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 -‐ 92 points "The bouquet is understated at first, drawing you in and then building with aeration, fomenting blackberry, wild hedgerow, wild strawberry and smoke. The palate is medium-‐bodied with crisp tannins on the entry. It is imbued with fine tension and focus, leading to a complex finish of blackberry, soy, tobacco, orange peel and graphite. It is imbued with a sense of classicism, especially on the dry, bell pepper-‐tinged finish, which exhibits great length. Superb." CATENA -‐ HIGH MOUNTAIN VINES -‐ FROM THE CATENA ZAPATA FAMILY VINEYARDS Catena Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 -‐ 92 points "It has a Bordeaux-‐like bouquet of blackberry, bilberry, graphite and dry tobacco that is well-‐defined and classic in style. The palate is medium-‐bodied with grainy tannins. There is a palpable sense of tension to this Cabernet, which exhibits great precision on the spicy, edgy finish. Full of personality, this comes highly recommended." Catena Malbec 2010 -‐ 91 points "It has a pellucid bouquet with tangible minerality: notes of blackberry, strawberry cheesecake, a touch of cassis and violets. The palate is medium-‐bodied with supple tannins on the entry. The acidity is crisp and lends tautness towards the succulent finish, which bestows blackberry, black olive and loganberry fruit. This is a finely crafted, feminine Malbec."
Catena Chardonnay 2011 -‐ 90 points "It demonstrates great clarity on the nose with scents of dried honey, linden, crushed stone and dried white flowers. The palate is well-‐balanced with crisp acidity and is a taut, focused Chardonnay with lively notes of tangerine and quince towards the finish. This is well-‐crafted and complex for its price point."
"MAKING MALBEC ON THE MOONSCAPE: ARGENTINA 2012" "The diaphanous lake reflects the cloudless blue. To my right, the endless moonscape of Argentinean lowlands; the pampas that stretch over 1,000km to the Atlantic and to my left the skyscraping snow-‐capped Andes, an imperious barrier that signifies the end of the world. Around me the land is jejune, barren and infertile. There is no verdure, no hint of green; forsaken land that God predesigned inhospitable to all but the odd hardy wild fox. However, He did not count on the ingenuity of mankind or the resilience of vitis vinifera because together, against the odds, a wine region has risen and prospered from the dust. "
History New World or Old World? For convenience, I view Argentina as the former since it has come to international prominence over the last two decades. However, make no mistake that the country’s viticultural heritage goes back to the 16th century, when Spanish immigrants cultivated vines for ecclesiastical purposes. Plantings expanded considerably during the 19th century due to the influx of more Spanish and Italian immigrants with winemaking in their blood. Naturally, they blended the cultural and social delights of fermented grape juice into their new homeland, but quality was not the imperative, rather it was rustic fare for private consumption. Parallel to Rioja, the plethora of small producers predicated larger enterprises that commercialized wine on a national basis. They congregated upon the newly irrigated vineyard of Mendoza and transported their wines to Buenos Aires by the railroad built in 1882. The grape varieties were mainly from France rather than Spain or Italy. One would expect Mendoza to be predominantly Tempranillo or Sangiovese given its socio-‐demographic composition instead of the 15% of red varietals they currently represent. Blame Frenchman Michel Aimé Pouget, who established the all-‐important Quinta National nursery in 1853 and imported French cuttings such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and, of course, Malbec. By the 1930s, approximately 60% of all plantings in Mendoza responded to the name “Malbec,” testifying that its sovereignty is no recent phenomenon.
Unlike Chile, producers were blessed with a domestic market where wine was a part of every meal and everyday life. At its peak in the 1960s/1970s, consumption reached an astonishing 92 liters per head. Who needed exports? At that time, Argentina was the fifth largest producer and sixth largest consumer of wine. However, a combination of political upheaval and economic strife stymied progress, and the military dictatorship virtually isolated the country from the outside world. By the 1980s, the industry still centered upon large companies such as Rutini (then entitled Bodegas y Viñedos La Rural), Trapiche and Luigi Bosca inter alia, all of which exist and flourish today. The pursuit of quality was rarely undertaken, but there was change underfoot. Nicolás Catena, an erudite third generation wine producer with a doctorate in economics, became inspired by wines from beyond his country’s borders, in particular California. He radically changed the philosophy of producing bulk wines through Bodega Esmeralda towards premium wines that aspired to something more than drinkability, and he achieved great success and international recognition in the process.
During the 1990s, I recall the susurrus here in the UK, when writers noticed an upswing in quality, in particular the signature variety, Malbec. Unsurprisingly, the melioration was contemporaneous with a period of stability when the currency was pegged against the dollar, thereby making its wines more attractive for export and just as crucially, for investors to come in. I remember the launch of Clos de
Los Siete in 1999 in London, the first mention of sub-‐regions such as the Uco Valley and Altamira; word of sophisticated Pinot Noir south in Patagonia and effervescent Torrontés north in Salta. The revolution was underway. Here in the UK, journalists began devoting column inches to Argentina, but it has been the United States where consumers have taken its wines to their hearts, in particular over the last decade.
Geography
Latest figures show that 70% of all Argentinean wine originates from within Mendoza’s boundaries: a quantity more than Bordeaux, Napa and Burgundy combined! It renders other Argentinean regions such as Salta and Patagonia peripheral in quantita/tive terms. That is partly down to the long history of viticulture and partly down to the quality of its wines. Given the expanse of this appellation, it is not surprising that many winemakers regard it as an indefinable region: more an amalgam of sub-‐regions, terroirs and microclimates that are only just being discovered. For this report I have assigned wines as originating from “Mendoza” and highlighted sub-‐regions within tasting notes. However, in future reports it may be revealing to break them down into sub-‐regions in similar fashion as Bordeaux wines are segmented by its appellations. The key to Argentinean wine is altitude, and quality wines are really consigned to cooler areas above 900 meters. It would be useful to outline the Indiciaciones Geograficas (IG), with accompanying information on sub-‐IG’s and soil and altitude. • Maipú (13,900ha): Lunlunta and Barrancas– 850-‐900m • Luján de Cuyo (13,470ha): Vistalba, Las Compuertas, Perdriel, Agrelo and Ugarteche, Agrelo with more clay – 920-‐1,100m • Tupungato (Uco Valley -‐ 8.995ha): Villa Bastías, Gualtallary (some chalk, calcareous elements in soil), Cordón del Plata – sandy-‐loam soils but no clay in Gualtallary – 900-‐1,500m • Tunuyán (Uco Valley -‐7,250ha): Los Arboles, Colonia las Rosas and Vista Flores (also some chalk and calcareous soils in the latter) – 900-‐1,300m • San Carlos (Uco Valley -‐7,250ha): La Consulta, Altamira (some chalk and calcareous soils in Uco), Eugenio Bustos and El Cepillo – 950-‐1,150m
Vintage Summaries A brief synopsis of the growing seasons is in order. 2010 – There was a little coulure early in the season that affected Malbec. January saw the mercury rise to above normal, but it cooled down in March and there was a storm on March 19, when 110mm of rain fell in Tupungato. The sugar accumulation was retarded somewhat towards the end of the growth cycle, which tended to lessen potential alcohol levels (at least generally lower than 2009). The red wines in Mendoza were picked one or two weeks later than normal, and this was even more the case down in Neuquén. 2011 – There was a strong “Zonda,” a hot dry wind that swept across the region on November 9, which led to a major front, particularly in the Uco Valley and eastern Mendoza. The summer was dry and cool, and this retarded the growth cycle despite a sunny April. Average yields were above average, but because of the natural reduction in potential yield, there was less incentive for green harvesting. Aromas tend to be floral and expressive, and on the palate the wines are tannic and concentrated with medium to high pH levels. The whites tend to be intense and zingy, bringing out the herbaceousness of Sauvignon Blanc. 2012 – Budding started evenly with a small frost in September. It was marked by another strong “Zonda” on November 8, followed by rain fronts that interrupted flowering and reduced the potential yields, especially for Malbec. There was a dip in temperatures around December, though it warmed up in January and February. However, a predicted early harvest did not materialize and the pickers were out in the vineyards towards the end of April, which was cool and dry. It was a slightly smaller vintage than average, perhaps around 22% less than 2011, in particular in Mendoza in respect of Malbec, Bonarda and Syrah, less so for Cabernet Sauvignon. The smaller yields engendered deeper colored, slightly more tannic wines. White grapes tend to be aromatic, with good acidity and slightly higher concentration.
To Blend Or Not To Blend, That Is The Question Let us cut to the chase. Is it a risk for Argentina to put all its eggs into one basket, to pin its hopes and its future upon one single grape variety based on past success? It is a question at the forefront of many winemakers’ minds, and indeed there appears no consensus whether it actually needs to be addressed. “In my experience,” commented top Argentinean sommerlier Andres Rosberg, “even if there are quite a few producers betting almost exclusively on Malbec, most people are working hard to change this, and depending on who you talk to, they speak of Bonarda, Torrontés, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, sparkling and so on.” If there is one thing that I learned during my time in Argentina, it is how well Malbec marries with other grape varieties. Take Bonarda, for example. Here you have two grape varieties synonymous with
Argentina that complement each other with style, the Bonarda bringing out the best in Malbec and vice versa. I see Malbec as the bedrock à la Cabernet Sauvignon and Bonarda as its blending partner à la Merlot. This is an avenue of enormous potential and not just Malbec/Bonarda. Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon blends are also impressive, or why not try more co-‐ferments with Cabernet Franc or Syrah as top winemakers are now doing, often with great success? Andres Rosberg himself is intrigued by Tempranillo/Malbec blends, and I hope to taste more in the future.
The Bridesmaids Excuse the title of the piece – it was a combination of ubiquity and alliteration that I refer to Malbec when, in fact, Argentina is more than that. So let us examine the “bridesmaids”¼ Bonarda was the red grape variety that arrived in Argentina with a rather indifferent reception, but departed with its praises being sung. As already mentioned, I see it as a high performing blending grape variety but only a competent “soloist.” It only occasionally transcends its limitations. Perhaps that is a case of aligning it to the correct soils or clones? Similar to Merlot, I appreciate its approachability and roundness in the mouth, yet it is difficult to see it as anything more than a grape that offers immediate pleasure unless it forms part of a blend. But for sure, overall I was pleased with the performances of many Bonarda wines that often retail at great value. Cabernet Franc is a variety that many winemakers are toying with, and I can certainly see the potential; Argentina’s climate is perfect for achieving those lovely bell pepper notes while achieving phenolic ripeness. Most winemakers still view Cabernet Franc as a blending variety, although the El Gran Enemigo 2009 from Aleanna demonstrated the heights it can achieve (though you could argue that it attested as much to the art of assiduous blending!) Keeping up the positive tone, I was also pleased with the progress being made with Torrontés. “Torrontés has great potential, although there are few hectares planted,” continued Marcelo Pelleriti. “We are discovering old vineyards in different areas of Agentina in addition to Salta, such as in La Rioja. We have made progress in terms of viticulture and vinification. We now have different styles of Torrontés and gradually we are going to achieve more elegance and bury the myth that the only way to make good Torrontés is with high yields.” For sure, there remain many examples where it is over-‐cropped, and the result is rather bland and ineffectual. However, I was smitten by a number of examples where it offers an effervescent quality in the mouth, racy and citric, occasionally endowed with an exuberant fruit profile not a million miles away from a Gewürztraminer. These are the wines that really demonstrated the potential of the grape variety and I hope to see more in the future. One other point is that I also believe it is a fine bedfellow for Chardonnay – lending individuality and more joie-‐de-‐vivre.
Where Do We Go From Here? The Mendozan surface is a vista of winemakers content that their Malbecs are selling well and appreciated by critics and consumers alike. However, under these calm waters change is afoot as winemakers ask: Where do we go from here? The good news is that there are already pioneers and thinkers; inquisitive, restless minds; risk-‐taking proprietors and adventurous cellar masters, who are
providing answers. I also detected a soupçon of what you might call “Mediterranean madness.” It is a form of unbridled passion spilling over into obsession that lends a wine region its dynamism. You could argue that it was madness to plant vines in such a desolate landscape in the first place, a madness that continues to fuel such passion. But having tasted over 1,400 wines, visited numerous wineries and kept my ears and eyes open myself; I present my own conclusions. Firstly, Argentina and specifically Mendoza cannot rely on past success. It needs to reinvent itself in the eyes of consumers, but not when they become disinterested. – that would be too late. They need to be pre-‐emptive. I feel that at the moment, too many wineries kowtow to anything that consumers want. That might be commercially sound and less stressful for their accountants or importers. Yet it leads to homogeneity and predictability. Consumers are fickle and constantly seek the “next big thing,” so they must be brave and furrow their own path to ensure long-‐term survival and to prevent typecasting, if it is not too late already. Let me return to blending, because there is huge untapped potential in Argentina. “Malbec is a variety that can age very well, and in many years its quality increases when it participates in blends and when it is co-‐fermented with other varieties,” opined Marcelo Pelleriti. “It enhances the characteristics and qualities of other varietals.” To reiterate: use Malbec as your foundation and marry it with Bonarda, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon as liberally as you desire. There are so many avenues that remain unexplored. If there follows greater emphasis on blended Malbec, then I am certain that wines will become less reliant upon human intervention. The results of this are already being seen by winemakers able to gain greater natural acidity through the addition of grapes that do not need such high alcohol levels to achieve physiological ripeness. How about experimenting with whole bunch ferments? Throw in those (lignified) stalks – play around! Blending may be the key to Argentina discovering wines that live, evolve, thrive and blossom with age, but you will not know unless a) you go out and do it and b) you have the wherewithal to hold back some stock and start those vertical tastings that can be so intellectually as well as sensorially rewarding. It was pleasing to see top estates doing exactly this, and I encourage them to continue.
On Oak Ageing Nothing illustrated this shift (from excessive oak use) more than at Bodegas Nicolás Catena, when Alejandro Vigil compared the oak regime of his splendid recent releases to those ten years ago. For example, the flagship Catena Zapata once boasted 200% new oak, now it is down to 60% and having tasted example from both eras, it is today’s wines that are far more personality driven, expressive and with great aging potential. There are many others following suit and Argentina will be making superior wines for it. This report (including those notes relegated to www.erobertparker.com due to space limitations in the print edition) contains tasting notes of over 900 wines that made the grade, and though I tasted a great
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result in harshness for a Cabernet Sauvignon. Also, high altitude vineyards with intense sun exposure like Adrianna in Gualtallary -‐ Tupungato -‐ can be harvested much earlier than we thought, because ripeness is made possible by the sunlight. These wines can have optimal tannin levels with exuberant fruit and perfect natural alcohol/acid balance. So going back to the history of the last 12 to 15 years, our first step was to understand this basic difference between Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec and how Malbec should be treated differently. In the beginning we started to produce wines that highlighted the aromatic characteristics of the variety: the ripe fruits, notes of violet and overall round tannins. Years passed, and now we have extremely drinkable wines that give us a unique profile made of tamed, round tannins that preserve the true fruit essence of the grape and its behaviour in our high altitude terroir (this is all the more interesting because historically Malbec has been known as a rustic overly tannic wine). And now, getting back to your question about the aging process, we wondered, how many years could we age these wines? Are they appropriate for aging? Well, we started working on this idea -‐ after all, historically, since the Middle Ages, Malbec has been known for its aging potential. Particularly, we looked into the idea of having less overripe wines, planting in cooler climates (Nicolas Catena was the first to dare to plant in extreme high altitudes in the nineties). We realized that through judicious vineyard management, as the high altitude vineyards got older, we were harvesting perfectly ripe fruit, 3 to 4 weeks earlier than before. Also, we found that if we picked the perfect harvest time for each lot, we could even use whole clusters to increase concentration and monomeric tannins (necessary for aging) without losing the round tannins. So I am confident that Malbec can age, but not just any Malbec from Mendoza. There must be consideration for the region, altitude, soil, age of the vineyard, plant population and winemaking/viticultural practices. Blending -‐ are Argentinean winemakers afraid to blend because a label with "Malbec" sells the wine? Is this a missed opportunity? I believe that blends certainly have their role in the ever-‐evolving process of understanding wine making. Blending is an art that takes a long time to master, and you need to truly know the varieties to do it well. If you look at people who have done it successfully, they start with the variety. And as they learn the land and the way the variety develops there, they are ultimately able to create a beautifully balanced blend of very high quality. Blends here in Argentina are still very much a new practice. Without a doubt we have complementary varieties, including the Bonarda and Cabernet Franc, that have great potential to play a part in Argentinean blends in the near future. If you look at the sales in Europe, Malbec is less dominant than in the US, and there are many other varieties and blends being sold from Argentina. In the US, Malbec is the dominant Argentine variety being sold. I like to think that if I make a very good wine, people will buy it. Malbec is a very drinkable wine that has an attractive flavor, but many excellent blends can also be made here in Mendoza. Perhaps there will be more of a combination of single varieties and blends in the future. Should Mendoza winemakers just accept that they will always have to acidify? Or are there techniques,
either in vineyard management or in the winery that can naturally increase acidity? Absolutely not. Acidification is a practice that has to do with late harvests, harvests that in turn produce wines that have a huge imbalance between alcohol and acidity. It’s an age-‐old perception that higher alcohol content means better quality in a wine. In Mendoza, you can harvest in such a way that acidification isn’t necessary. If we manage and develop the vineyards in a certain way, we’ll find that we really shouldn’t have to alter the wine, or at least not every time. But to put it graphically, I remember many years ago my grandfather teaching me about wine. The two things he loved were, first, what he called complexity, and the second thing was that he loved to drink lots of wine with friends. This last thing was not something that he said by chance; I remember that these meetings lasted between 4 to 5 hours where they ate and drank a lot. For this he needed wines which he called fresh (good acidity) and with low alcohol (it would take two or three liters to quench the thirst of the raw ham). Well, how did he achieve this with his wines? Something basic and with a lot of common sense, he left more kilograms per plant, this helped to have a slow maturation, with low alcohol and high acidity. Years have passed and I came to Catena, where I learned much of what I know today. In the nineties there was a belief here in Argentina that a good wine had to be highly concentrated, high in alcohol, powerful, explosive. Doctor Catena, Laura and I spent a lot of time drinking old Burgundies and many wines from Bordeaux that the Doctor would import for our "research"; Laura brought wines from all over the world every time that she flew from the United States to Argentina. We began to talk about the wines that we liked the most, and they were subtler with good tannin/alcohol/acidity balance. They were aromatic and memorable. I made a trip to Burgundy, where I was surprised to see many different things in the vineyards -‐ they did very little manipulation of yields; they were harvesting earlier than I would have imagined. Over the years at Catena, we have worked to harvest each parcel at the right time, depending on the soil/climate of the site; not to manipulate; to harvest earlier. We also bring out the freshness in the wine with practices such as whole cluster fermentation with low pH, use of the white wine lees during fermentation of reds and shorter macerations. In the end we go back to what my grandfather prized, the perfect combination of freshness and complexity. Terroir -‐ Argentina can never truly express individual terroirs unless winemakers are more committed to reducing irrigation and forcing vines roots deeper into the ground. Is that a true statement? It is a conceptual discussion about the terroir, but I think that we have the possibility to clearly express the terroir in Mendoza and Argentina. We have two fundamental points to characterize the area. The first and fundamental characteristic of our terroir is the altitude; this parameter acts over the temperature, soil, moisture and essentially the human being. This last one determines the handling of the crop by experience gained generation after generation, learning the idiosyncrasies of each lot within each vineyard and how to irrigate it. The practice of irrigation in Mendoza has more than 500 years: a complex network of channels organized by the indigenous people today remains the basis of the distribution of water in the province, an extremely complex system that uses the pure water from the mountains. But without a doubt, the handling has taken a while and at this stage the technology has helped us. Also, 30 years ago we used more than 1500 mm of water per hectare and today there
are areas where we use no more than 400 mm. This undoubtedly has helped to achieve the real balance of the plant within each zone and is giving us the opportunity to express the characteristics of the terroir of each vineyard and of sub-‐parcels within a vineyard. I remember measuring in the tank the evapo-‐transpiration, then using the Scholander pump that measures the potential water in the plant, and today we measure the sap flow in the trunk. In conclusion, there is a better management of water, and I think that there are oenologists and wine growers committed to have wines of terroir. So I agree that in Mendoza, where viticulture would not be possible without irrigation, judicious management of water is key to expressing each vineyard and each individual lot's terroir. —Neal Martin