Wine Enthusiast Magazine / October 2009 / Argentina

Argentina

Argentina features a vaunted winemaking history that began some five hundred years ago when Spanish missionaries first arrived and planted vines. But it wasn’t until about two hundred years ago that Argentina developed a commercial wine industry, largely centered in the province of Mendoza, located about four hundred miles directly west of Buenos Aires.

For all intents and purposes, Argentina’s wine industry was until fairly recently geared toward domestic consumption. Nineteenth and early twentieth century immigrants from Spain and Italy had a huge thirst for wine, and the vineyards that they planted along the western edge of the country, where the climate is dry, the temperatures warm, and there’s plenty of water available from the mighty Andes, produced copious amounts of varietal and blended reds that the Argentine population drank with nary a complaint.
 

To a large extent, that’s still the case. Argentineans remain the primary consumers of their own wines. But as the global wine market began to take shape in the latter half of the twentieth century, Argentina refocused its winemaking and marketing efforts to highlight exports. Today, there are approximately one hundred wineries throughout Argentina that are sending their wines overseas. Mendoza with its numerous subzones remains front and center among wine regions, with areas like San Rafael, La Rioja, San Juan, Salta and Cafayate playing second chair.
 

Due to a pervasive hot, dry climate, it’s safe to say that red wines outperform white wines in almost all parts of Argentina; although the higher one goes into the Andes, the cooler it gets and the crisper the white wines become. And with such deep Italian and Spanish roots running through the country’s people, that makes sense.
 

Malbec, which was brought to Argentina from France some 150 years ago, has emerged as Argentina’s signature grape. It is grown throughout the country, and while it varies in style one can safely call it fruity, aromatic, and lush. In flatter, warmer vineyards, Malbec can be soft and simple, an easy wine for everyday drinking and blending. But if taken into the foothills of the mountains or grown in old vineyards, it can be a wine of immense character.
 

Joining Malbec on the red roster is Cabernet Sauvignon, which is flavorful and serious when coming from top wineries like Terrazas de Los Andes, Catena Zapata, Norton, Cobos, or Chakana, to name several. Picked ripe like in California and aged mostly in French oak barrels, Argentinean Cabernet has what it takes.
 

Other red grapes one frequently encounters are Bonarda and Sangiovese, both of which were brought over from Italy, as well as Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, and even some Pinot Noir.
 

Among white wines, one of Argentina’s best and most unique offerings is Torrontes, an import from Galicia in Spain. Floral and occasionally exotic in scent and taste, Torrontes seems to do best in the more northern Salta region, where there’s more humidity and rain than in Mendoza.
 

And as stated before, the Andean foothills are proving to be the prime spot for Chardonnay. At elevations of more than 3,000 feet above sea level, warm days and cool nights yield naturally fresh and properly acidic wines. Flavors of pineapple, green banana, and other tropical fruits are common among Argentina’s modern-day Chardonnays.