Malbec And More                                     

                                                                    (photo: Pulenta Estate in Alto Agrelo)

Just over three years after my first trip to Argentina, I found myself back in Cuyo, South America's largest wine producing region.
Cuyo is a broad region, which encompasses Mendoza, San Juan and the lesser known San Luis and La Rioja. It's smack in the center of Argentina's three main regions, the North, which includes Salta and Catamarca and Patagionia to the south, home to Neuquén and Rio Negro.
Keep in mind that 98-99% of vineyards in Argentina are planted alongside the Andes mountain range but there are some near sea level not far from Buenos Aires and in eastern Rio Negro.

The message has not changed in Argentina, altitude is king. What has changed is how Argentine producers have widely embraced it to their benefit and to search for specific sites that will be interpreted in the final wine. Producers are finally letting the consumer know about these specific sites by labeling the wines according to appellation or vineyard. It's something we've (wine writers) been saying for years, let people know how specific and how special this wine is by introducing us to exactly where the grapes were grown.

My fear three years ago was that a fickle consumer would soon grow bored of the generic, inexpensive and exceedingly approachable wines (specifically Malbec) and Argentines would suddenly find themselves in a glut of grapes and wines and new wineries, which would either have to find a new audience or shut down.

We've seen it happen before. Most recently Australia, who was led astray by popularity and trend, creating swaths of homogenous wines all tasting the same. When the consumer grew tired of one-size-fits-all, they moved on to Malbec (at least that's the case here in Canada). Australia had been (and in many cases never stopped) making regional wines, but they were overshadowed by inexpensive multi-regional blended wines. It's been an uphill battle for Australia to reclaim it's glory, which I find disturbing as so many regional and appellation specific wines are, in a word, magnificent. 

I saw Argentina going down the same path. The outcome would not be good and we'd simply see a new trend, a new country and a new wine of the day.
Cest la vie.

Prices continue to be exceptional, coming out of Argentina. Especially when you think of their premium and ultra-premium wines. Quality like that in most other countries is double, triple and more. Those prices have begun to ascend, though. Be prepared as the inflation rates in Argentina have risen, exports are down due to rising costs and the price of simply making wine in Argentina has risen incredibly.

Unlike the past decade or so, international investors may be seeing Argentina as less attractive when less money can be made. 

Fortunately, Argentina has benefited greatly from the international exposure they have so far received. With international investors the quality of wine in Argentina has improved dramatically. Technology has found its way into the wineries and to the vineyards. Not necessarily in a contrived way but in an effort to make better, cleaner wines. Most importantly, this knowledge and expertise has found its way into the vineyards where it's become more evident in how vineyards are planted and where. After all, any good producer will tell you, wine is made in the vineyard, not in the winery. To bottle a wine with a sense of place, a wine that tastes and smells like where it has come from (not like it could come from anywhere - who knows?) is the goal of every good vintner I've met. 

Upon revisit I saw some very positive changes. A desire to produce not more, but better, site specific and quality wines. In addition, Argentina has seen an incredible increase in wine tourism. Malbec may have put Argentina on the wine tourism map, but the benefits to all aspect of the wine industry are obvious. 
Why? Because tourism brings consumer to you. It allows them to see and understand regions and appellations as they pertain to wine.  It gets them excited to go home and share experiences and buy wines from places they've been.
Tourism also effects other aspects relating to wine...food. Food and wine are integral to one another. The food in Argentina and the range of restaurants blew me away.

It was the most obvious change I experienced. 

The first time I visited Argentina, beef cooked on the asado (an open fire grill - see above right)) was served at nearly every meal.
Argentina is known for its beef, of course, but it was too much.
At dinner one night an Argentine winemaker who chose to dine on the same mushroom ravioli I was told me there was a new trend in Argentina, Argentine people were actually eating less beef, for health reasons (and possibly because the price was increasing). I filed the information away and when I returned three years later, I discovered he was right.
We were treated to only one asado on my recent trip and visited a single restaurant famous for its parrilla (grill), the famous Don Julio in Palermo, in Buenos Aires.

The time there were abundant and plentiful vegetables and more than simple (albeit delicious) pastas or savoury empanads (as right). There was a concerted effort to make food look beautiful, to add international flare but still focus on local produce and cheese (scroll down to see my food photos at the bottom of this page).
I can honestly say that the food I experienced in Argentina this time was 100% better, while maintaining its uniqueness by paying homage to its South American, Spanish and Italian cultures. I devoured some of the best dishes I've ever had from around the world. There was also a growing trend of winery restaurants, which are part of the evolution of any new (or emerging) winemaking region and country in the world.
Build it and they will come.

All that in just three years.
 

My tour

....my perceptions were more than a bit skewed. It was far less rustic than I imagined and much flatter as well. When you hear wine folk talk about Argentina it's all about altitude, altitude, altitude. But your perception is altered by the fact that Mendoza is a high plateau and when you fly in you have no idea how high you really are. And, although there are hillside vineyards, the vast majority of those I visited in Cuyo (the epicenter and the largest of Argentina's wine regions) were on flat plains or gentle slopes. But as you slowly ascend from one plain to the next when driving, you notice a subtle change in elevation - especially as you draw nearer to the mountains. Not that I am saying there are not sloped vineyards in Argentina - there are - but perhaps I had images of steeply angled German Mosel vineyards or the fantastic terraced vineyards of CÔte RÔtie?

Yet the vineyards here in Argentina sit so much higher, so much closer to the sun's warm, intense rays than those other places. And those great altitudes (of roughly 700 feet above sea level in Patagonia, to nearly 9900 feet in Salta) also provide the shift to cool nights building finesse, long fine tannins, structure and acidity in the grapes. So despite the impressiveness of the regions I mentioned previously, Argentina still has the worlds highest vineyards, in spades.

I have not even mentioned the arid, dry conditions which prevent mildew and an array of  miniscule pests from setting up a buffet - this means little or no use of pesticides. Despite the lack of rain, (it rains less here than either Napa or South Australia) water, is not really a concern (the high Andes Mountain's snow melts each spring and water becomes plentiful) but it can still be an issue. Although there are many rivers and canals in Argentina to irrigate from, not all have that option.
Water runs deep beneath the terrain forcing many wineries to drill deeply, more deeply if they want to avoid certain mineral and metals. And, many vineyards still rely on the old method of  flood irrigation, (flooding the vineyards through channels dug around and through the vineyards allowing water to pool) which can be wasteful and (despite it's benefits helping to prevent Phylloxera) many believe it causes other problems, like lazy roots or high yields. But drip irrigation is costly and many cannot afford it if dry farming is not a choice. And, when you consider cost and investment in vineyards - netting is a far more important one as vines face possible devastation from the constant threat of hail, so common here.

First stop, San Juan

Bodegas Callia

Other standouts:

Read about Mendoza here


Quick Facts

A Mouthwatering Selection of Fine Argentine Cusine

More Argentina!

Mendoza here