AnuvaBlog

At the highest altitude vineyards in the world (upwards of 6000 ft or 2000m), the theme usually revolves around Torrontés. This variety, although originally Spanish, expresses itself best here with an abundant honeyed floral aroma and crisp citric mouth. The altitude is the key for Torrontés as with altitude comes a greater diurnal temperature differential–sometimes as great as 20 degrees C (or 35 F)–which preserves acidity in this uniquely luscious white. Torrontés also can come from La Rioja and San Juan in Argentina but they tend to be a bit more delicate.

Now Malbec from Salta has a great reputation although I find it to be quite medicinal at times. Bodegas Tacuil would have to be among my favorites from the region because of their adherence to little or no oak policies and an ability to preserve the fruit of this high desert red.

So what else can you get from Salta? Well besides minerals and llama clothing you can get Tannat. The originally French varietal derives its name from the word tannin and can sometimes can be a brutal as a Mike Tyson uppercut (from the pre Buster Douglas era of course). With time though, some goregous thorny blackberry can show through in Tannat and really be quite a nice change of pace.

Lourdes, my wife and integral part of the Anuva team is currently in Salta sourcing from many wineries. New additions to come…

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…