Argentina expands its palate
Country’s wineries have developed a taste for diversity, grape varieties
The last time I visited Argentina was in 2011. What I found was a country whose wine regions lacked a distinctive identity. Two unique grapes dominated the landscape: malbec for red and torrontés for white. But the grape variety is only a small part of the story. It’s how these vines reveal what’s unique about the land and climate that ultimately makes a wine worth drinking.
Whether it was an overreliance on foreign winemakers whose signature dominated the wines, or that Argentine producers were trying too hard to please their primary export market, the United States, many of the wines simply tasted the same.
Fast-forward six years, and my feeling upon leaving Argentina this time couldn’t be more different. There’s a wine revolution happening throughout the country. The small wineries are taking chances as they should, expanding the offer in grape varieties and making wines that are less typically Argentinian. And while large wineries tend to be rather conservative in many countries, in Argentina they are leading the way.
The Catena winery is funding in-depth scientific studies on grape growing. Trapiche is exploring a new, very cool climate region called Mar del Plata on the Atlantic coast. Zuccardi has constructed a truly unique winemaking facility in the Uco Valley using specially designed concrete “eggs” for vinification. Together, large and small, wineries are pushing Argentina forward.
I tasted some very good wine while I was there. The reds, especially malbec, were less ripe and with less new oak flavours than the ones I sampled during my last visit, and showed off the pretty florals that make Argentine malbec so distinctive. Most wineries are doing more singleregion and single-vineyard wines, focusing on what makes each place special. And some of these sub-regions are pretty special.
My favourites were Altamira and Gualtallary, two sub-regions of the Uco Valley, which itself is a sub-region of the largest growing area, Mendoza. Due to calcium carbonate in the soils, these areas produce wines that show lots of torque but, at the same time, very fine and finessed tannins. Pay attention to the labels and you should start noticing these names more often.
Beyond malbec, I was really surprised by the quality of many other grapes. Cabernet franc is proving to be a great fit for Mendoza, with more of a Bordeaux feel. I liked it better than the majority of the cabernet sauvignons. I also really liked the bonarda, which is an ancient Italian grape and Argentina’s second-most-planted red grape variety. It makes some easydrinking, nicely rustic wines that remind me a bit of montepulciano.
For fans of lighter-bodied wines, there’s some good pinot noir growing there. Zorzal’s pinot noir reserve was staggeringly good, as was Trapiche’s Costa y Pampa, made with grapes sourced from the new coolclimate coastal region. Props to Susana Balbo winery for producing a pinot noir rosé that was stunning.
My biggest surprise may have been the white wines. Aside from torrontés, which I wrote about last week, I had a tasting of 20 Argentine whites and, once again, was shocked by how good they were. There was some great chardonnay, led by Catena’s White Bones cuvée, which is sourced from their high-altitude Adrianna vineyard in Gualtallary.
Beyond that, I tasted a great sémillon (Riccitelli winery), chenin blanc (Mendel winery), a number of good rieslings and a number of really interesting sauvignon blancs that showed lots of pure citrus fruit without any real “green” herbaceous notes.
Will we start to see more of these wines in Quebec? Part of the frustration I heard while travelling was that, no matter how good many of these wines are, most markets only want malbec. That’s understandable, considering that the Argentine industry has planted so much of the stuff. If they are known as a one-trick pony, it’s their own doing.
The next step will be to diversify their vineyards and take advantage of other grape varieties. Everything in its time, I guess. What I can say for now is that my trip to Argentina was a great surprise. If they can accomplish this much in six short years, I can’t wait to see what they do over the next six.