Argentina's White Wine Revolution

BY JOAQUÍN HIDALGO | JUNE 09, 2020

In the spiritual homeland of Malbec, many of the most innovative new wines being produced today are white. One might be forgiven for thinking that winemakers are being deliberately contrary; however, over the past decade and a half, underneath wave after wave of reds, a revolution has been simmering away quietly. Chardonnays and Sémillons are now being produced that are every bit as good as some of the best Malbecs in the country.

I have been closely following every stage of that revolution. Producers have shifted from uncertainty to curiosity and then from curiosity to confidence that good whites can indeed be made in Argentina. Meanwhile, we have also witnessed the rise of new regions and the development of much greater knowledge about what is possible.

As California producer Paul Hobbs noted during our interview on Vinous Live!: “The most important changes weren’t to the winemaking processes but the discovery of new terroirs.” That is where we must focus our gaze if we are to understand this stylistic reinvention.

The foothills of Andes fall into zones I (blue), II (green) and III (yellow) on the Winkler scale depending on topography and altitude. Both Gualtallary and San Pablo run East-West, spanning all three zones on the scale.

The Mountains and the Cool Climate

Let’s begin with a hard fact: from 2002 onward, the surface area of vineyards planted with Chardonnay in Mendoza grew by almost 1,173 hectares (a total increase of 31%). Of these, 655 are located in the Uco Valley, in Zones III to I in the Winkler Scale, the classification of winegrowing areas based on heat summation developed by A. J. Winkler and Maynard Amerine at UC Davis.

Today, the province boasts a total of 4,972 hectares, of which 50% are higher than a thousand meters above sea level (masl), a hypothetical boundary defining Winkler Zone III.

That is the stage on which these new developments have taken place, one where “we can offer new styles at a decent volume,” said Sergio Casé, head oenologist at Trapiche. In the case of Chardonnay, the move into cooler areas represents significant progress. But even though all the attention has been on the cool climate, we mustn’t forget the role of the sun: Gualtallary, El Peral, La Carrera, San Pablo and Los Chacayes are areas of the Uco Valley where new vineyards have sprung up at between 1,400 and 1,750 masl in cold, desert landscapes with such unique levels of solar radiation that the rule book for Chardonnay no longer applies.

Some of these new vineyards are so cold but get so much sun that it’s as though Burgundy had been transplanted to Jerez. In such circumstances, one would expect the appearance of curiosities and new flavors. My tastings bear out this hypothesis. For this report I sampled more than 170 Argentinian whites, 70 of them Chardonnays. In each I found concentration, intensity and a fruity, floral but also herbal profile, all of which can be explained by the altitude.

“What’s going on up there is on another planet entirely,” said Matías Riccitelli, a producer responsible for several Chardonnays grown at 1,500 masl. “We don’t get higher than 20 or 21 Brix, but with ripe, fruity profiles.” If the soils are right as well – rocky or with abundant limestone deposits, like lunar landscapes in the shadow of the Andes – the palate tightens up and grows more precise.

These terroirs are blazing the trail for new Chardonnay profiles in Argentina. The challenge for winemakers is how to bring them out. Some, like Alejandro Vigil, are experimenting with aging techniques. His El Enemigo is made with grapes from Gualtallary: “One-third of the wine is aged in barrels sous voile.” The result is a palate lent generosity by the wood and fruit and austerity by the flor, with the aromas and volume of a very fresh Chardonnay.

Chandon’s Cepas del Plata vineyard was planted in El Peral, Tupungato, in 2005. At 1,550 masl, it was an early adopter of high altitude methods. The alluvial soil profile is typical for the zone: stony and varied. The color key in the map depicts the different soil types present in the area.

But while Vigil refines his wines’ character through the aging process, other producers are on a quest for purity. Sebastián Zuccardi is a devotee of that path, and his Zuccardi Fósil is the most accomplished of his white wines. “In San Pablo we get a late ripeness with low pH and heightened acidity, with more herbal than fruity aromas.” His methods are specially tailored to preserve that character.

Similarly, Alejandro Sejanovich, who makes Chardonnays from several different terroirs for the winery labels Zaha, Teho and Buscado Vivo o Muerto, says: “There are plenty of subtleties waiting to be discovered and brought out by precise aging methods and properly judged harvest times.” This approach is certain to achieve greater precision in the short term.

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