AnuvaBlog

When discussing Argentine wine regions the topic tends to focus on Mendoza, its silky Malbec and Nicolas Catena’s influence (http://www.bibendum-wine.co.uk/retail/news/February/2009/Catena_Decanter) on the quality of the wine produced in Argentina.  Possibly someone will mention Salta’s floral and fruity Torrontes (even though the Torrontes grapes, though grown in Salta, are commonly shipped over night to Mendoza for processing), but other than that the average consumers does not talk about the other regions in Argentina.  This is not without reason:  Mendoza represents more than 60% of Argentine wine production, it represents a much higher percentage of exported wines, and Torrontes and Malbec are grown with unique characteristics in Argentina and have found a niche in foreign markets. 

The next highest wine producing region of Argentina is San Juan, located directly north of Mendoza.  This area is in the rain shadow of the Andes Mountains, resulting in an arid climate watered by snow melt and run off, just like Mendoza.  However the climate here is slightly warmer, and the grape of choice for high quality wine shifted from Bordeaux’s Malbec to the Rhone’s Syrah.  This is not to say you won’t find Malbec from San Juan, it is still grown there but it is not the ideal terroir as is offered in the south.  Wine purchased here will be less expensive (for now) than Mendoza’s wines, and while Malbec might not be as good, this does not mean there are not great wines to be had.  Medoc’s Petit Verdot also seems to have found a home.  This is a French grape used in Bordeaux blends, but has the down fall of being late ripening to the point of commonly losing the entire crop and only occasionally being ripened properly.  The fact that the Syrah market is already saturated  domestically in the US and Europe has limited the export market of San Juan’s signature grape, but does not make the wine produced there any less potable or any less the value of Mendoza.  In fact in Buenos Aires premier wine event, “Cuisine and Vin” there were two rooms dedicated to San Juan. 

To the south is Patagonia (encompassing Neuqúen and Rio Negro), which stirs ideas of glaciers, mountains and even penguins, but to an oenophile it should be known as the bastion of hope for Argentine production of quality Pinot Noir (though Mendoza has been producing good Pinot Noir by using high  altitude of the vineyards).  The area is only in its infancy, with only a handful of wineries, but this has not kept it from receiving some promising press (http://www.winesur.com/ver_nota.php?nota=17803).  With Oregon’s Willamette Valley, New Zealand’s Central Otago and of course Burgundy, representing the few places producing quality Pinot Noirs, Patagonia is Argentina’s opportunity  to break into a market which is fiercely loyal, low in supply and willing to pay a lot of money for a quality product.  The relative small number of wineries in the region will leave you coming across the same names over and over, two of which are Bodega Chacra, and Familia Schroeder.  Bodega Chacra represents the most respected name in the region, with old vines and the reviews to match. (http://www.londonfinewine.co.uk/blog/default/2009/06/09/1244561705947.html) Familia Schroeder is the producer of “Saurus” and will be the most easily found example of a decent Patagonian Pinot Noir in or outside of Argentina.   

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, the couple behind the “Tastings” column in the Wall Street Journal discuss great value wines, in particularly the Malbec and Torrontés.

Check out the program here.

(Photo Source: NPR.org)

Lessley Anderson, a wine and drinks writer for Chow.com recently featured a post on Anuva Vinos. Check out the link below!

Put a Bow on These Bottles
By Lessley Anderson
Wines are chosen by a panel of local experts through blind tastings, and you can reorder anything that you like. It’s a great opportunity to learn about fun regional Argentine varietals other than Malbec, such as the rich, …
http://www.chow.com/wine_and_drinks/6817

(Photo Source: Chow.com)

Several Argentine winemakers walked away with prestigious medals at the recent Mediterranean International Wine & Spirits Challenge - Terravino 2008, including a couple of wineries that are in the Anuva Vinos Wine Club. Bodega Sin Fin and Las Perdices both won awards for having some of the best price-to-quality ratios around.

In fact, not only did Las Perdices win for its Don Juan Reserve Blend as well as Sauvignon Blanc, it was also awarded one of the highest accolades of the event, winning a Double Gold Medal for its Tinamú Blend. Though Anuva Vinos currently doesn’t feature it, it’s coincidentally sitting one of the desks in our offices right now, an artifact from a recent blind taste test for our next shipment.

It’s great to see Argentina garnering more and more recognition not only for the great price-to-quality wines its producing, but also for the sheer high quality of the wines its producing. Salud!

(PS. Don’t be overly shocked if you happened to find the Las Perdices Sauvignon Blanc in one of the next upcoming shipments….)

Photo: Courtesy of MDZ Online

We’ve sometimes been critical of Wine Spectator, however, they are still one of the most-respected and most-read wine publications out there. So it was with great surprise and delight that three Argentine wines cracked the Wine Spectator Top-100 list released a few weeks ago. No, they were not any that Anuva Vinos features (2009 maybe?), but they were from small wineries with limited productions. Last year, the goliath Catena Zapata was the onlly Argentine wine to make the list, and this year aside from two Mendocino wines, the top rated Argentine wine was from Salta. As this year’s theme was all about ranking value, it’s great to see that the rest of world is noticing not only what great value that Argentine wines offer, but that some of the very best wines that this country produces do not come from Norton, Chandon, or Zapata. Not to mention that not the entire country, not just Mendoza, is producing great wine…

Earlier this week, WineSur (an industry website essentially about all things wine in Argentina) had an article about how Argentine wines might find a unique opportunity in the midst of the recent economic turndown.

Various studies both in the US and the UK have already shown how spending practices are getting tigthened and people in bars and restaurants and shops are simply just spending less.

With that said, people like wine and drink it. And will continue to drink it. But they might start changing their choices. This is the moment that, WineSur says, Argentine wines could surge as people begin to realize the Malbec’s great “price-quality ratio.”

Well, this is something we’ve realized for a while now. You don’t have to sell blood to drink great wine, that you can drink a great wine like the Naiara Malbec Reserva 2005 and pay probably half of what you’d pay for a comparable French Bordeaux.

The 4th annual International Wine Forum in Mendoza, Argentina saw many industry leaders and experts gather to discuss the future of Malbec, wine and Argentina. Among the topics discussed was the direction of the signature Argentine wine industry, Malbec.

Exports are way up in terms of both volume and dollar value, and everyday we are reading more about and hearing more about the fabulous wines coming out of Argentina. So how could it be possible to make Malbec more marketable? Several ways:

1. Branding efforts. Big wineries are developing the brands of wine that they don’t classically deal in. Now, Anuva doesn’t deal with big wineries at all, but we are a tiny piece of the wine industry in Argentina, and we do have to pay attention to the things that Trapiche, Zuccardi and Catena are doing. The first two, known as makers of table wine primarily, are putting huge amounts of dollars and effort behind creating higher end Malbecs. Zuccardi now has Q and Z and both wineries are coming out with single vineyard Malbecs. Catena, traditionally a higher end producer, is concentrating tons of effort on its Alamos brand and Salentein with its Callia brand (due out in the U.S. before the end of the year).

2. Flexible styles. Malbec from Argentina can be made into a soft, fruit forward wine and also a concentrated oak aged powerhouse. This means that within the same varietal, many variations can be found that would please people with different tastes.

3. Unbeatable price/quality relationship. Argentina has the lowest labor and lowest land costs out of any major wine making region in the world. That means that all the quality gets to the consumer at less cost.

Here is what the American Association of Wine Economists have said about Malbec and Argentina (taken from this link):

“The Association’s working paper showed that “a driving force of Argentina’s export boom has been the admirable quality of its wines, particularly the attraction of its emblematic Malbec. But given that its uniqueness is a key element of Malbec’s appeal, is the wine’s lure ultimately a temporary fad? Will consumers tire of Malbec in time? Should the Argentine industry continue to stake its fortunes largely on this one successful varietal, or should it seek to promote new wines on the international market?”

Stein answers these questions by highlighting the opinion of experts, most of whom “voice optimism about the long-term prospects of Malbec. Among its enthusiasts are some of the wine world’s most influential critics and consultants. Remember that Robert Parker hardly evoked the image of a passing fancy when he asserted that during the next decade Malbec would take its place among ‘the pantheon of noble wines.’ Parker’s Argentine representative Jay Miller expressed similar views on his recent visits to Argentina: ‘To conquer the market, Argentina should continue promoting Malbec….Malbec is what distinguishes Argentina within the multitude….Malbec is real, it is not something that will go out of style….Malbec has great room to grow, because from its entry-price wines on up you find very good options.’ Renowned French consultant Michel Rolland is even more categorical in his support: ‘There is no reason for Argentina to change varietal. It is functioning so well with Malbec that I see no reason to try something else.’”

I have been through the Cafayate region and its surrounding twice to visit various Bodegas (wineries) and I find the region resembles something out of a Salvador Dalí painting.

Besides my watch nearly melting onto my wrist, this desolate, arid landscape stretches infinitely into the horizon. Traveling by bus between wineries and through much of the outskirts of the region (all the way until La Paz, Bolivia actually, stopping in Uyuni to see the truly spectacular Salar de Uyuni–the world’s largest salt flat–and other high desert locales) I kept thinking to myself, “How do people live here?” In reality, the people of the region–much more “indigenous” looking, short and dark than the very European looking Porteños–have very little to live on besides llama meat, products made from llama wool, and a few specialized types of high desert corn that grow there. Besides that, the only thing that grows is grapes.

For grape-growing, and especially for Torrontés grapes, no better region in the world exists. At 2000+ meters altitude (over 6000 feet–as high as Timerbline Lodge for you Portlanders out there) the diurnal temperature differential is enormous, it never rains yet water sources are close, and the soil makes the grapes work hard. Some very interesting Malbec comes out of that region as well.

Here is what Matt Kramer, a wine writer for various publications has to say about one particular malbec:

One of the pesky things about wine is all the names: grape varieties, producers, regions, districts, brands and so on. No sooner do you feel that, finally, you have a grip on one slippery subject than another unfamiliar appears. Here’s one more: Cafayate Valley.

Never heard of it? You will, I promise. Located in northern Argentina, the valley is the source of some of Argentina’s best wines, especially (but not exclusively) malbec.

Cafayate Valley has some of the world’s highest-elevation vineyards, typically at 5,500 feet. (In comparison, a high elevation vineyard in California is 1,500 to 2,200 feet.) Such an elevation guarantees diurnal temperature extremes, where afternoon temperatures plummet at night, typically from the mid-80s during the day to the mid-50s at night. This preserves acidity, which would otherwise “bake out” during warm nights.

The valley sees little rain (three to six inches a year) and tremendous sunshine. Surrounded by the Andes Mountains, the vineyards are irrigated thanks to ample water from mountain snowpacks.

What matters is what you find in the glass. In the case of Cuma Malbec 2007 from Michel Torino Estate, you’ll discover a startlingly fine red wine delivering not just the expected plum and black currant flavors but an unexpected measure of earthy, almost medicinal notes that may derive from the zone’s rocky soils. One thing is clear: What you’re tasting is no simple “pure fruit” play. There’s a dimension that comes from the site itself, not just the grape.

Because the Cafayate Valley is so dry, it lends itself easily to organic vineyard practices (no molds or rot that plague winegrowers in humid or wet locales that require sprays). Michel Torino Estate, with 1,500 acres of vines, is committed to organically grown grapes, with Cuma 2007 made entirely from certified organic grapes.

Cuma, by the way, means “clean and pure” in the language of the Aymara, who occupied the high elevations of northern Argentina before the Incas.

This is impressive, dimensional, even eye-opening red wine of considerable subtlety, finesse and refinement.Click here for the whole article that was published in The Oregonian on August 17, 2008.

Sommeliers come in all shapes and sizes. Most sommeliers at restaurants will have been in charge or at least had a major part of the creation of the wine list and therefore know that list intimately. But this also means that they will tend to be tied to the wine they have put on their list. Understandable since they are trying to sell you wine for your dinner.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, though, this means that all of the wine will be from Argentina. Not unusual in a protectionist country. In Argentina, foreign wine hardly exists except for at the most posh of restaurants (like 3) and wine shops (literally 3). A sommelier in Argentina, therefore, and especially in Buenos Aires, will be recommending Argentine wine. Funny, that’s what I recommend.

But since wine is all about taste its good to know what you like and how to communicate that idea to the sommelier. If you like fruit forward, young malbecs, then about 50% of all wines made in Argentina will appeal to you. If you like more herbaceous, tannic wines, and actually know what that means, then a sommelier should have no trouble picking one from his list.

Why not start with the basics, though, which is probably what the sommelier will do anyway? Red or white, price range, regional preference, varietal preference. After narrowing this down then, the sommelier will usually try to push you into a slightly higher price range since s/he will work inevitably on commission.

A sommelier must  always ask what you are eating because  food combining is an art, and the sommelier should have designed his/her list around the food at the restaurant.

The same goes for buying at a wine shop. Narrow the choice of wine down by region, price, varietal, characteristics and food combining and you’re good to go.

For the last several years the Hyatt hotel in Mendoza has put on the Hyatt Wine Awards event in July in order to facilitate the export and production of high end wines from Argentina. We are please to say that as a minimum 4 of our wines won  gold or silver medals: Reserva Cavagnaro Malbec, Sin Fin Malbec, Beviam Syrah, and Las Perdices Don Juan.

This is very exciting for us considering that our members are the only people that are getting these wines outside of Argentina.

Would it be presumptive to assume that our PR department will do a press release about this recent, er, press? Surely not.