Focus on Argentina

As was the case two years ago, visiting enologists (such as California’s Paul Hobbs, France’s Michel Rolland and Italy’s Alberto Antonini) continue to be behind many of the most impressive wines I sampled in recent months. These guys know from long experience what international drinkers are looking for, but they’re also smart enough to realize that they are working in a near-ideal climate for grape-growing and that their wines must express a regional identity, if not more specific site character. While Hobbs and Rolland in particular continue to use a high percentage of new oak for their top bottlings, their wines are far more sophisticated than many other Argentine wines aimed at the American market, some of which are overwhelmed by lower-quality barrels (or oak chips) or appear to carry significant levels of residual sugar. But there’s no shortage of homegrown talent in Argentina, and as these winemakers gain more experience with the international market, their own wines are becoming cleaner, better balanced and finer. The extended Catena family, which has always had an international perspective and has long been a leader in exporting high-quality wine from Argentina, was responsible for a number of the very finest wines in my recent tastings. Perhaps the best news for American consumers is that more of Argentina’s top wineries than ever before are now shipping their wines to the U.S.

The overwhelming majority of Argentina’s best bottles are red, with malbec, cabernet sauvignon and blends based on these two varieties accounting for a high percentage of the finest wines I tasted in recent months. The province of Mendoza, just east of the Andes Mountains, which form Argentina's natural border with Chile, dominates the wine industry in Argentina. Although Salta to the north and Patagonia to the south are already beginning to deliver on their outstanding potential, Mendoza still produces 85% of the country's wine, and accounts for roughly 90% of its exports. As I have noted in past issues, Mendoza is a semi-desert with hot daytime temperatures, cool nights and cold winters. Sparse rainfall averages barely ten inches per year, as the high Andes range blocks moist air coming from the western, Pacific coast of South America. The greatest weather challenges in Mendoza are spring frost and sporadic but potentially devastating hailstorms. Harvest-time precipitation is rarely a serious threat to grape quality.