AnuvaBlog

Torrontés: the Next Malbec

                Since 2004 no other country has seen the meteoric rise in volume, value and market share figures that Argentina has in the import segment of fine wine to the U.S. Over the last two years while all other segments of imported wine are down in both value and volume—except for Argentina’s across the Andes rival—Argentina has seen value increase in 2008 by 26.6% (U$ 500m) and volume by 15.6% (18.1m 9L cases), and through 3Q 09 value is up 8.8% and volume 8.9%. (It’s important to note that over 50% of all wine sales in the U.S. are done in 4Q of any year due to the Holidays)

                The majority of the reason for this growth during a recessed world economy is due to the great value that is Malbec. But of recent, Argentina’s ace in the hole has been its little known white wine called Torrontés (pronounced tohr-own-TAYS).  Torrontés, a grape variety of Spanish origin has found a home in the arid high altitudes of Salta, La Rioja and San Juan. The dryness and altitude factors enable Torrontés to achieve its best expression while maintaining its acidity, something that it loses at lower altitudes and with too much rain. When achieving its fullest personality a Salteño (from Salta) Torrontés—widely considered to be the best region—such as one from Carinae Vinos, will have an exuberant nose of honeyed orange blossom, jasmine and citrus while the mouth remains dry and crisp with flavors of pineapple, grapefruit, apricot and tropical fruits. This Salteño version is contrasted only slightly by its Riojano (see Aguijón de Abeja) and San Juanino (see Serrera Torrontés) counterparts that exhibit more delicacy and elegance. All Torrontés pair extremely well with light pastas, fishes and salads. For specific pairings try a nice apricot or fig jam over triple cream brie; prosciutto wrapped honey dew or cantaloupe; or peach, raspberry or mango sorbet with lightly flavored biscotti.  

It is this humble author’s opinion that this unique flavor profile of Torrontés combined with the newness factor that will ultimately be responsible for its growth in the U.S. and world markets over the next decade. Compared with the overly ubiquitous (yes, I just used those two words together) Chardonnay that has led to an ABC (“Anything But Chardonnay”) philosophy amongst many an aficionado, slightly fatty Viognier or off-dry Gewurztraminer—the three varieties that Torrontés is most often likened to—Torrontés has the sweet floral nose of the latter two that Chard lacks, better acidity that Viognier, and is dryer and more food friendly than Gerwurztraminar while generally being a better bang for your buck than any of the three.  This flavor profile and price point translate to sales potential.

 In the first nine months of 2009, exports for this varietal have grown 42% in value and 40% in volume.  At Anuva’s own wine tastings in the U.S. and here in Buenos Aires our wines that most frequently get a “I’ve never tried anything like that” response is Torrontés. Interestingly, the next most likely wine to get a response like that is our Bonardas.

What is Bonarda? Where Malbec is peaking and Torrontés is on its way up, Bonarda is still completely off the map. Think a nice smokey-chocolate nose with hints of raisin and fig. In the mouth, juicy blueberries and hints of pepper with an aggressive mouthfeel. This is the varietal that most often gets “wows” from wine professionals at our wine tastings. It blows away the normal flavor profile of a deep colored, full bodied red. Mairena Bonarda has been one that gets great reviews from critics and neophytes alike. Look for Bonarda to start selling well in the next 2-3 years.  

It seems like all of our assumptions have been confirmed and reconfirmed. The hardest hit sectors of the U.S. wine market are fine dining, chain restaurants, and wine shops according to Wines and Vines. The good news is that website and online retail sales have remained constant (good news for me that is), and sales in imported wines from Argentina, Chile and Spain are all way up.

Argentine growth in wine exports to the US has been remarkable during the last seven years: 2003-38M, 2004-48M, 2005-67M, 2006-92M, 2007-132M, 2008-183M, 1Q 09–51M. It is estimated that Argentina will close out the 2009 calendar year with $ 220.000.000 in shipments to the US.  During April 09, Argentina exported, in value, $ 18.737.976 vs. $ 11.380.587 in April 08, an increase of 64.6% and in volume it exported 5.906.462 liters in April 09 vs. 2.782.652 liters in April 08, an increase of 112%. The FOB cost per liter in April 09 is $ 3.17 vs. $ 4.09 in April 08, a drop of -22.5%.

During the 1st four months of 2009 Argentine Customs reported US exports of 1.966.955 nine-liter cases totaling $ 64.902.928 at an average price of $ 33 per nine-liter case. US Customs reports that for the same period Argentina exported $ 70.340.285 (including BTW) and 30.006.359 liters, or 3.334.039 nine-liter cases. The difference between the Argentine Customs Report and the US Customs Report is $ 5.437.357 and 1.367.084 nine-liter cases…this is the BTW amount for the first four months of 2009. There is a small variation in the four-month report of the two Customs due to timing issues. Argentine customs reports all shipments leaving its ports as of April 30th, while the US Customs only reports shipments landed at its ports as of April 30th. As we can appreciate 1) a number of the April 09 shipments from Argentina will not arrive on US shores until May 09 and 2) a number of shipments that left the Argentine ports on December 08, will not arrive in the US until January 09. Therefore, the timing issues will cause the two four-month reports to vary slightly. The 1.367.084 nine-liter case equivalents for $ 5.437.357 gives us an average of $ 0.44 per liter of BTW, which is not too far from the 2008 results of $ 0.46 per liter.

This whole rosé fiasco has got me thinking about the many other labels/words today that have been banned from import to the EU from the US. I find myself somewhat on the fence on this one.

On the one hand, consumers, whether European or American, should take responsibility for knowing their vendors. If their vendor is dedicated to artesenal practices or mass production, use of pesticide or organic, and that true champagne only comes from the region of Champagne.

At the same time, producers should not be so tied to specific labels only for the sake of marketing. This is where the crossover from yesterday’s post on rosé comes in. Of the latest 15 terms and phrases to be banned from wine labels imported to the EU from the US some should never have been used by American winemakers and wineries (like “chateau” and “clos” which are clearly only used for marketing), some fall into a middle gray area (like “classic” and “fine”–which certainly have meaning in English as well as French), and some, like “tawny” have no sense in being banned whatsoever. Tawny is a color or visual descriptor of anything. Not just wine. In fact, you will notice, that the link I provided has no mention whatsoever of wine or port.

Purposefully misleading consumers and people in general for material gain should be considered criminal, but at the same time, the line that defines purposefully misleading and good marketing is a fine one. After all commercials like the Gatorade one that says that it has “zero PERCENT fat” after saying that it has “zero PERCENT calories” is totally redundant and somewhat misleading. Strictly speaking, one cannot have zero percent calories. Calories are a measure of the energy within a given system: in this case, the drink. But calories can also measure the energy just as well in gasoline as wine, as oil, water and a hamburger. So to day that a drink has “zero percent calories” makes no sense at all. Zero percent of what? There has to be something to have a percentage of it.

That’s why saying that having “zero percent fat” does make sense as it represents part of a whole, measured in either weight or energy (calories).

Wow, tangent.

So take care consumers, to understand your products and purchases, or you will get taken advantage of, and at the same time, marketers, let’s do away with ridiculously misleading sillyness like the complete misuse of scentifically defined terms to make your product sound “engineered” for the body or human being.

Do you know what is scientifically engineered for the human body? Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and things that used to walk, swim or crawl before they ended up on your plate. Shop the perimeter people! (cuz that’s usually where the wine is anyway).