Argentina: Wrapping it Up

Argentina is coming to a close, as is for that matter our entire year long adventure. It has been an epic journey of wines around the world, and it is fitting that we finish with what to my great surprise is the best. I knew the wines of Argentina were decent, after all I had tasted a few before coming here, but I was not expecting what we found.

It turns out that Mendoza is a veritable oasis for wine making. At least for the varieties that do well here. There is well drained soil at high altitudes with enough difference from one region to another to add complexity to the wines. Malbec is the undisputed champ here, and while I have enjoyed other varietals, it is the Malbec that Argentina is rightfully known for.

I am a lover of Zinfandel. Those big jammy wines at reasonable prices that represent for me the best that a drink now style of wine can offer. Malbec is Argentina's Zin. It can be big and jammy, or like Zin in can be made in many other styles. Unlike Zin the other styles are also quite successful.

Style is exactly what makes Malbec so enticing. We have tasted at least 50 different styles from 25 different producers and every one is distinct. Like Pinot Noir in Burgundy, Malbec in Mendoza is very sensitive to the terroir it is grown in, and the hands it is made by.

When Malbec is produced with an eye on structure it is a surprisingly decent candidate for aging. I have tried many that go back seven or eight years, a point to which my revered Zinfandel rarely survives to. More astonishing is the 35 year old example that tasted like a well aged Bordeaux, and still has plenty of life in it.

Big and jammy is what I crave in a Zinfandel, and as it turns out, in a Malbec. Often accompanied by a black pepper aroma and finish, these intense wines are a fruit lover's delight. With just enough structure to keep them from being flabby, they fill the mouth with delicious flavors and keep you coming back for more.

If fruit is your thing, you also want to try a Bonarda from Argentina. Once the most planted grape here and intended only for use in the sea of indifferent red wines that Argentina used to produce, Bonarda is finding its way into some well made and serious wines. And yet, for all the world it tastes exactly like grape juice.

A little too much like grape juice for my taste. Those who are fans of these wines applaud the fresh grape flavors and extoll the virtues of the grape. I don't exactly count myself a fan, although I understand the appeal. I tried a sample that was 10 years old and it had layers of complexity from softening tannins I never even knew were in there. It gave me more respect for the grape, even if I don't exactly love it.

Torrontes is the white grape of Argentina, and here we turn from fruit to perfume. A highly floral wine with a tart finish in most examples, although more than a few I have tasted have had acid added to accomplish the necessary structure. Almost everyone agrees that this grape is best when grown well north of Mendoza in the Salta region, but I suspect as more cool growing areas open up, Torrontes will find a new home.

Espumante, the local phrase for sparkling wine is another winner in Argentina. The quality is decent, and the prices are very good. This is not Champagne, but it does easily rival anything made anywhere outside the august region of France. The low prices may not survive the many hands involved in exporting and selling abroad, but if these wines ever do make it to your shore, make a point of trying a few.

Then there are the up and coming grapes. Merlot here is hit or miss, but I have tried a few versions with potential. I know of at least one producer that is convinced that Merlot is the future, and he may be right. Certainly Cabernet, which is as ubiquitous here as anywhere, is not the answer. They are decent enough, but nothing to write home about.

Pinot Noir is mostly relegated to the sparkling wines, and rightly so for the most part. I have tasted a few that are not bad, but Pinot is a tough grape and a tough wine. Energy may be best spent elsewhere. The Pinot I have tried tends to be light, but with a dark component that doesn't so much add complexity as it changes gears abruptly.

Sauvignon Blanc is another hit or miss example. Without acidification it is hard to get a decent balance, and with it it is hard to get a decent wine. I have had a few very good examples, so it is possible, but I think t requires more attention and patience than some are willing to give. Above all it needs the cooler growing regions.

I have tasted a few bottles of Tempranillo here, and they were good. Not once did a any of the score or more of wineries I visited present their Tempranillo for tasting. I think it is a red headed step child of the country. Full of potential but a completely different style of wine than they are used to handling or enjoying. That is a shame, because from what I tasted it has possibilities.

Hot and dry makes me think of Grenache, and judging from the few test plots here and there, I am not the first. Alas, the extremely cool nights interrupt the ripening and it never quite gets the color or intensity here that make it so interesting in the south of France or the north of Spain.

There you have it, my look at the wines of Argentina through the lens of three months of living among the natives and visiting their bodegas. The tiny glimpse I had from tasting the few examples that had made their way to the US was far from complete enough for me to see the full picture. The Argentinean spectrum of wines is diverse and complex even while relying on just a few choice grape varieties.

Run down to your local wine shop and put together your own tasting, or even better yet, call up your travel agent and start working on your own visit down here, below the equator and nestled up against the Andes. Plan on escaping the dreary winter of 2010 with a trip to sunnier climes with even warmer people and fabulous wines to explore. They will be waiting for you.

On the Question of Ethics

There is a bit of a buzz going around the wine blogosphere about ethics. It started in part because of a post from Dr. Vino and led to among other things this post from the inestimable Jancis Robinson.

I am no Robert Parker, nor Jancis Robinson, but this does not mean that I do not have my own code of ethics I strive to live by. In general I am very careful to not accept anything from a winery or any wine company. I pay for the wines I taste unless they are being offered to everyone at a tasting, and I generaly do not accept any form of hospitality.

I say generally, because on this trip around the world, it has been somewhat a different story. I am driven to the wineries who almost always also offer us lunch. There are a few ways I rationalize this in my own narrow scope of ethical standards. First and foremost every winery that we visit is offering us the same treatment, ensuring that there is not one over another that I would feel beholding to.

The second and most important factor is that I am a ruthless critic. I can easily taste a wine, smile at the winemaker, and perhaps even say something diplomatic about the wines, and then come back to my keyboard prepared to write the truth as I see it.

This trip has cost us a small fortune, and the wineries are far afield. I could have just written about the wines we buy, and indeed I keep them separate in my reviews, but that would only have given a small glimpse into the wine regions, especially Chile and Argentina.

Some wine reviews are only conducted blind, and there is a lot to be said for and against this. First there is the definition of a truly blind tasting, it has to be double blind that is sorted by random to really qualify, in my opinion. It is easy to orchestrate a blind tasting to favor a result. Assuming that the tasting is as blind and fair as it can be, some wine styles tend to do better than others.

A big heavy wine will tend to stand out and if there are many heavy ones, the fruitier, easier to enjoy wine may stand out. Every blind taster has a story about how one of their favorite wines has failed to do well in a blind. Some of this is because removing prejudice is the point of a blind tasting, and some of it has to do with the fact that the criteria of what we drink is not always the same as what we look for in a blind tasting.

I am all for removing the variables that effect a tasting. I go out of my way to train myself to taste in as objective a way as possible, but I am only human. I taste blind when it is possible, and open when the circumstances dictate it.

How do you as a reader judge my efficacy? Simply by deciding for yourself that my taste is similar to yours. If our palates are compatible then you can trust my taste and tasting notes, if not, look for a different critic. I have been giving this same advice for the 19 years I have been writing about wines. And considering how many of my newsletter readers are still with me, for them at least I am providing a valuable service.

The flack on wine writing ethics started not because anyone did anything wrong in accepting a trip to a wine region, but because it was against their written and stated code of ethics. If you are going to have a code, you have to stick to it.

My code? I only accept hospitality when I am going to accept it from everyone equally. I will whenever possible spend my own money to acquire and rate wines. I will always be transparent about any connections to a winery and where I got the wines I am rating. I will remain brutally objective and loyal to my readers first, and that the proof of this will always be my ratings themselves.

I have a great many friends in the wine business, because that is the circle I travel in. Most of these people are friends in spite of what I have said about their wines, not because of it. There are also those that I have become better friends with because I am enamored of their wines. This too is only natural, since I tend to want to hang out with those that have the best wine. When I write about a friend's wine, I always say so.

So yes, I have accepted lunch and a ride to visit the 40 or so wineries I have been to here in South America. It really helped the budget, but it didn't cover the many of thousands of dollars in airfare and hotel bills. It is enough outside my ethical comfort zone that I feel compelled to mention it, but not so far outside I want to apologize for it.

We all have to look to our own conscience when it comes to ethics. The fact that I think about it at all may be to my credit, but on the Internet even more than in a printed journal I believe that you are only as credible as your actions. I applaud those that have brought this thorny issue to a fore, and hope that I pass their standards, but more importantly, that I pass yours.

Argentina: Restaurant / Store Review - The Winery

Buenos Aires sports some 10 of the modern wine shops called simply the Winery, but there is only one in Mendoza, It is located in a historic house in downtown, just a few blocks from the Hyatt. The building is beautiful and is a fitting location for this homey style wine destination.

Each varietal has its own room, with the wines prominently displayed, albeit with most a tad more vertical than I like to see. Be sure to push on the cork to ensure it doesn't budge from having dried out before selecting a bottle.

The collection of bags and containers for moving around bottles was almost as impressive as the huge number of wines available. I found myself thinking about what I could use them for before realizing that there was no way one more item was going to fit into our scant luggage.

While you can choose any wine from the store and bring it in to the cafe, we went ahead and ordered a moderate wine from their list. The list itself is small and easy to read, but has some helpful clues as to the better bargains for the uninitiated.

To accompany our bottle of Malbec, we picked a few different types of tapas from the menu. The dishes were well prepared and reasonably creative but after all were just tapas. The service was courteous and professional, which shouldn't be notable in of itself, but after some earlier experiences in the city, we were delighted to see it.

The patio looked as if it may offer more in the way of an elegant dining experience, but it was a chilly autumn evening and we were not about to sit outside. During the day, or in the usually warmer evenings dining al fresco would have been a pleasure.

If you are visiting the city of Mendoza you would do well to visit the Winery if for no other reason to familiarize yourself with the huge variety of producers and varieties of wines available. Pick a bottle that intrigues you and settle in for a comfortable meal in surroundings that are soothing and welcoming to the wine lover in all of us.

Argentina: Earth and Altitude

Terroir is a word that is often used and almost as often, overused in the world of wine. It refers to the combination of soil and climate that makes one wine region different from any other. I cut my teeth in wine on a little part of France called Burgundy. There the tiny vineyards each have characteristics that vary from minute to extraordinary. The primary catalyst for this change is the soil, although other factors such as a well placed wall or even a tree can make a difference.

It is because of my study and love of Burgundy that I became a true believer in the effect of soil on the vine. Living in the New World I also noticed a huge difference in climate. The wines of Sonoma are decidedly different than those of Napa, and Santa Barbara's cooler weather often makes its wines fruitier than either of its northern neighbors.

So it was that I came to Argentina with plenty of experience in the effects of terroir, and I was delighted to find that here it is not just a buzzword, but a integral part of the wine making philosophy. Several of the better wineries have captured the unique conditions in their Malbecs, bottling wines that emphasize the terroir of Mendoza.

In California, and even Chile the temperature of a growing region is often dictated by proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Argentina has one of the highest mountain ranges in the world between it and the ocean, but it is these very Andes that make all the difference.

Altitude is the key to climate here and the soil variations are also a direct effect of the looming mountain peeks. Deep sandy loam, calcareous and even alluvial soils all rest on beds of stones that allow the drainage that the vines so desperately need. The depth and composition of the soils have a huge impact on the flavor characteristics of the grapes.

Just to the east, of Mendoza away from the altitude of the Andes the Maipu region and their alluvial soils produce wines with rich tannins and soft fruit. Just south of Mendoza in the higher Lujan de Cuyo region its loamy vineyards influence the vines to have subtle but noticeable tannins with moderate fruit. Further south still and closer to the mountains in the high altitude Uco Valley is the town of Tupungato, the newest, and to my taste, most impressive region.

The grapes grown in the loamy soils with their calcareous layer in Tupungato have a huge mouthful of fruit that makes them taste completely different than the same grapes grown to the north and east. For some the lack of structure and tannins in general in these wines can be seen as a fault, but I fall into the more fruit the better school. The wines are not without structure, it is there, but their fruit driven style is amazingly prevalent.

Even the wineries that bottle wines from separate regions or individual vineyards often will make a blend of the best of these areas. Like creating a perfect stew they add the more tannic wines for structure, the acidic wines for freshness and the fruitiest examples for flavor to create a complex whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Only 10 to 15 years ago the wines of Argentina were often indifferent. Made to satisfy an internal market that could never get enough wine, but were not particularly picky about the quality of what they drank. The renaissance in winemaking that brought an influx of capital and technology to this country also brought with it winemakers and visionaries that were searching for individual expressions of fruit that only specific terroir could afford. They found it in spades.

Argentina: Restaurant Review - Azafran

Everything we read, and everything we heard said we had to try Azafran restaurant in Mendoza. Frommer's calls it "charming" and the service "convivial." Trip advisor places it #1 out of 28 restaurants reviewed in Mendoza and rates it 4.5 out of 5. Viva travel guides raves "it’s hard not to enjoy Azafran."

The premise can best be described as an upscale deli with an emphasis on wine. There is a wine room where you go to pick your own bottles, in lieu of a wine list. They specialize in cheese and meat plates as a starter, and the place is certainly very busy.

Perhaps it is because of our expectations, or it may be that we prefer a different style, but we were not thrilled. It wasn't awful, buy any stretch, but it came nowhere close to the hype.

The service was cursory and unprofessional. I had to point out repeatedly that the water glass they gave me was cracked, they just kept putting it back in the wait station and one after the other servers kept trying to give it back to me. They don't believe in giving you new silver between courses, so like a lowly diner they just throw your dirty fork back onto the table.

The food was passable, but not much better. The potatoes for all the world tasted like they were instant. They may well not have been, but they sure did taste that way. I had potatoes stuffed into an onion, and my wife had them stuffed in the ravioli. Despite the different descriptions they tasted remarkably similar, and unremarkable.

We had a camembert baked in puff pastry with jam, but the cheese was bitter and was only made better with the addition of the jam. Alas, there was at best a drizzle of jam for looks, hardly enough to make the dish palatable. It was served with a bed of bitter greens. Someone likes bitter a whole lot more than I do.

My first choice of appetizer was not available so I settled for a trio of empanadas. They were ok, but despite their exotic descriptions, blood sausage, sweetbreads and a onion and sausage filling, they were not much more interesting than the ubiquitous offerings from every other restaurant. The presentation was on a cutting board which did nothing to enhance the experience.

No doubt we would have enjoyed the charcuterie plate better, as that is one of our favorite types of nibbles, but we have that almost every night at home, so we wanted something different.

The menu selections I had read about sounded quite enticing, but the night we were there none of them were to be seen. Instead we opted for steaks, which is what they do best here in Argentina. They were fine, but nothing special, and not as good as the steak joint around the corner from us. The one nod to making the fillet more interesting was a slathering of goat cheese. Perhaps if the afore mentioned potatoes had not been so disappointing the main courses would have had a better reception.

The wine room was fun to look around in, but there were people seated in there, making it hard to get to some of the wines, and it made me feel like I was interrupting their night. I ended up to rushing to making my selections, instead of taking the time the fine collection warranted. The wine steward was charming and graciously confirmed that my choices were ideal. He then disappeared and allowed a more clumsy assistant to stumble through the service.

The din of the diners and the people looking around at the shelves of products behind our table did nothing to improve the ambiance, nor did the door that wouldn't close and let in the cold night.

My research promised me choices like deer, lamb or rabbit ravioli in champagne sauce, none of these were to be seen. They didn't even have anything remotely like the sweet potato puréed in a light cream sauce I had read about.

We had high hopes, spent a pretty penny, and really wanted it to be a special night. Instead it was passable and nothing I would go out of my way to recommend.

Argentina: A Pair of Characters

The sheer variety of wine is one of its greatest attractions for me. There are many possible styles, although too many wines seem to pick a safe middle road that is sure to get high marks from the most influential wine writers. I prefer wines that are an expression of the winemaker, the culture and of course the terroir, that ever elusive sense of place.

Here in Argentina I have tasted many wines and visited many wineries, with that many more yet to come. Two approaches come to mind as I think about wine makers expressing their styles. Both of these are exciting wineries to me because of their willingness to move from the mainstream to express their vision of wine.

Bodegas Lopez adheres to a traditional style of winemaking that has all but disappeared from the planet. This 4th generation family owned winery ages their red wines for up to 15 years in oak casks and another 5 in bottle before release.

The result is a range of products that have the well aged character that few casual wine drinkers ever get a chance to experience. At the entry level the wines start around $7 but have several years of aging. The longest aged wines are still offered for as little as $40 and because these top wines are from the finest lots and vineyards, they actually taste younger than the lower priced wines.

The opportunity to taste these well aged flavors usually requires great expense and or time. Here Bodega Lopez has taken the expense and time on themselves, allowing you to reap the benefit of their dedication.

Make no mistake about it, dedication is exactly what is required. Aging wines for so long requires a huge facility with scores of giant casks. It also means the expense of holding on to wines for so long and the careful tending of them over all of that time. Few wineries are in a position to age wines more than a year or so, even if they wanted to.

Lagarde is another winery steeped in tradition that like Beodega Lopez was founded in the 19th century. Lagarde's adherence to tradition can be seen in their hand processing of their champenoise style sparkling wines, and their careful upkeep of the centenarian edifice that houses their winemaking facilities.

The wine style is thoroughly modern, but not cookie cutter appease the critics modern. Their approach is to create wines that have tangible structure but not at the cost of the fruit. The wines of Lagarde have a distinct style and are noticeably different from so many others from the world over.

One hundred year old vineyards help, but it is the conscious decisions of the winemaker and management that ultimately shape the style of wines. They could easily be making wines to please others, but pleasing themselves is more important.

This does not mean the wines have gone unnoticed, their walls are littered with awards from competitions around the world, and from what I tasted they well deserve them. It just proves that you don't have to make wines to one person's taste to be critically acclaimed, there is plenty of room in the world of wine to demonstrate character and style.

Those middle of the road "safe" wines often decry that they are ensuring profits and salability, and I am well aware that making wine is a business and completely understand why someone would want to ensure that all of their products sells. But the next time you are ready to buy into this excuse for perfectly acceptable mediocrity remember that Bodega Lopez and Lagarde still sell every bottle of their wines, and not just at collector prices but for rates that are far more reasonable than many of their competitors.

Viva la Difference seems a fitting accolade for these wines, even while I want to be sure to point out that I am not taking anything away from the many other great producers in Argentina and around the world that make their own choices. Pleasing me is not the end all in wine making, but if you give these two properties a try you might find that they please you as well.

Argentina: LVMH is Memorable in Mendoza

Moet et Chandon, makers of Dom Perignon Champagne are one of the best known luxury brands in the world. While I enjoy their wines, my preference in Champagne has always edged towards Veuve Cliquot. Fortunately for Moet's parent company, LVMH, they own both labels, as well as my favorite wine of all, Chateau d'Yquem.

The Chandon brand has a wide appeal around the world, and so it is the moniker that LVMH (Luis Vitton, Moet Hennessy) has chosen for its overseas sparkling wine producers. Domaine Chandon of California and Australia and Bodegas Chandon here in Argentina.

LVMH has so much faith in the Mendoza wine region that they also have two more properties here, Terrazas de los Andes and in a joint venture with the very prestigious Cheval Blanc of Saint Emilion, France, Cheval des Andes.

Bodegas Chandon is not just limited to making fine sparkling wines under their name and their Baron B label, they are also the producers of the Valmont, Latitud 33, 2Voces and Guiado still wines.

In a recent tasting I was able to try quite a few of Bodegas Chandon's sparkling wines and I was genuinely impressed. I tend to judge sparkling wines by the Champagne standard, and these all stood up well. Even better than their California counterparts. Their entry level Chandon Extra Brut is made by the Charmat process but in this case it is a conscious decision to produce a lighter, fruitier style, and not a cost consideration. Their Brut Nature is only one dollar more at $13 and is made using the more traditional champagne method.

Their Baron B line is only a few dollars more and yet it exhibits all of the characteristics of a decent Champagne. Even more remarkable their top of the line Eternum comes in at an astonishingly affordable $50. Since these wines are mostly found in South America, enjoying enough Eternium when you are here could pay for your trip. In a highly rationalized Karen Blixen * sort of way.

Terrazas de los Andes is the premium winery of the group (Cheval des Andes is produced in this winery). Situated in one of Argentina's most historic wine properties the winery is an elegant blend of modern technology housed in traditional surroundings. Here is where visiting winemakers and dignitaries stay while visiting and are treated to fine meals from chef Jose Cacciavillani. A large range of wines are produced at the property, all with utmost care and precision.

Cheval des Andes is an attempt to create a Grand Cru style wine with all that Mendoza has to offer. With old vine Malbec blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Nicolas Audebert and Cheval Blanc's Pierre Lurton are creating wines that can easily stand up to any on the world stage. With the full fruit of a New World wine, and the subtly and elegance of an Old World offering the three vintages of Cheval des Andes I tasted really hit their mark. No less impressive is the refined and perfectly appointed hospitality facilities at the vineyard. With their impeccably groomed vines, remarkable view and adjacent polo field, this is what the home of a New World Grand Cru should look like.

Bodega Chandon, Terrazas and Cheval des Andes are breathtaking examples of what can be accomplished in the Mendoza region of Argentina. The wines are remarkable and the facilities and hospitality no less so.

* I could make you look it up, but for those of you not instantly familiar with the obscure reference, Karen Blixen is the author who wrote under the pen name Isak Dinesen. Her book "Out of Africa" may be what she is most famous for in the US, since it was made into a major motion picture. Her short story which was also adapted into a movie, "Babbette's Feast" is a favorite among gourmands for its portrayal of an unforgettable meal. Apocryphally, Karen Blixen was said to live on a diet of Champagne and oysters, although her biographer Javier Marias adds that this "was not quite true, for she also consumed prawns, asparagus, grapes and tea."