"The garagistes refers to a group of innovative winemakers in the Bordeaux region, producing "Vins de garage", "Garage wine". A group emerged in the mid 1990s in reaction to the traditional style of red Bordeaux wine, which is highly tannic and requires long ageing in the bottle to become drinkable. The garagistes developed a style more consistent with perceived international wine tastes."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garagistes

"Los garajistas son un grupo de vinicultores innovadores de la región de Burdeos que producen "vins de garage" ("vinos de garaje"). El grupo surgió a mediados de la década de 1990 como reacción al tradicional vino tinto de Burdeos, que es altamente tánico y requiere un prolongado añejamiento en botella antes de ser bebido."
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garajista

"A 1996 Valandraud made by founding garagiste wine maker Jean-Luc Thunevin, sold for €750 a bottle on the French Website 1855.com – twice as much as Chateau Cheval Blanc, a Saint Emilion premier grand cru."
http://www.decanter.com/news/65453.html

"My definition of a garagiste wine maker would be someone that makes wine on a small scale for their own consumption."
http://capeinfo.com/blogs/wine-blog/wine/category/garagistes...


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Note added at 27 mins (2010-04-25 19:20:19 GMT)
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ENTIRE TERM:
una bodega considerada “de garaje”

a wine cellar considered "garagiste"

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Note added at 31 mins (2010-04-25 19:24:15 GMT)
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MORE REFERENCES:

"Elin McCoy writes on Bloomberg: “Not everything was selling. At Sotheby’s, buyers passed on once popular Bordeaux garagiste wines like Monbousquet…”..."
http://www.drvino.com/?s=garagiste


According to Eugene van der Westhuizen, managing director of Wine Studio, the commercial distribution of garagiste wines - made in small quantities by passionate part-time producers - became a necessity after increased demand and interest from the South African public.

'garagiste wine is currently probably the most discussed aspect of the wine industry - not only in South Africa, but also abroad,' says Van der Westhuisen. 'The public is enchanted by the idea of garagiste producers making these wines on a small scale and mostly in their free time in garages, front rooms or kitchens. Besides the romance, the fact is that South African garagiste wines are damn good, as was recently illustrated when Anthony Smook, 'n garagiste from Paarl, won a gold Veritas award with his Anthony Smook Chardonnay 2004 - something much larger cellars with sophisticated technology could not manage.'

The term garagiste originated in France to describe the number hobby-winemakers producing wines in their spare time without the benefit of formal cellars - often simply in their garages.

According to Van der Westhuizen, the awareness of the quality local garagiste wines and the publicity surrounding them has led to a huge public demand.

'Wine studio decided, in conjunction with South Africa's foremost garagiste producers, to introduce these wines to the public at large through a network of shops for fine tastings, restaurants and a wine club,' he says. Wine Studio aims to market some 20 000 bottles of garagiste wines annually.

'Until now a limited amount of wines were available at wine shows or to friends of the garagistes. We are now putting the wines in the reach of the broader public. In addition, we have created a medium through which garagistes can distribute their wines. In this way the movement can hopefully expand by drawing more enthusiasts to make the wines and by giving existing garagistes more exposure for their wines on which they work so hard and with so much passion.'

Van der Westhuizen says the garagiste movement will always remain unique because the amount of bottles each garagiste producer is allowed to make has been limited by regulations to 12 000 bottles per year.

'The quality of these wines is emphasised by the quality of the retailers, restaurants and hotels acquiring the wines for their clients,' he says. 'Amongst them are some of the country's foremost wine shops like Caroline's and Steven Rom, and highly regarded hotels like Cellars-Hohenhort in Constantia and the Pontac Guesthouse and Restaurant in Paarl.'

The garagiste labels that will in future be made available to the public includes Anthony Smook, Katbakkies, en Topaz.

'The main attraction of these wines is that they are completely independent of the mainstream of the industry,' says Van der Westhuizen. 'Consumers throughout the world are enchanted by the movement - wine might be made in the vineyard, but when it comes to garagiste wines, the passion and dedication of the producers play and equally important role. The consumer thus is assured of buying the wine maker's personal stamp of approval.'
http://www.wine.co.za/news/news.aspx?NEWSID=6172&Source=News