They Drink... Argentina Wines
After two weeks of exploring the vineyards in Salta (Cafayate & Colomé) and Mendoza (Uco Valley and Maipú), here are our top recommendations. Try to find one at a local online store near you, or better yet - fly to Argentina and visit the vineyard yourself.
Top Five Bottles:
Piattelli -Torrentés: Grown at 5890 feet elevation, this is a fresh and easy to drink white wine. We had a full bottle during our lunch at this vineyard and left wanting more.
Passionate Wines - Torrentés Brutal: This vineyard is all about experimentation - breaking traditions and challenging your tastebuds. This particular wine is an orange wine (skin contact white) where it goes through a fermentation process similar to red wines and put into used oak barrels for 12 months. The result? Some crazy fruity and herbal aromas with similar wild flavors in your mouth. This is for the adventurous!
Bodega La Azul - Reserva: Most of the wines in Argentina are young wines that have not been aged for a long time. This one is different. It is a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon with oak barrel aging for 15 months. We tried the 2018 from the barrel and fell in love. A 2015 bottle is in our suitcase waiting to be enjoyed this week.
El Esteco - Cabernet Sauvignon: El Esteco was founded in 1892 and known as one of the first vineyards in Argentina. Over 10 million bottles are produced a year and from this brand, you should be able to find at least one bottle that suits your tastebuds. For us, it was the Cab Sauv which is a smoother alternative for those of you who find Malbecs to be too aggressive.
La Porvenir - Laborum Tannat: The Tannat grape originated in France and is now known as the “national grape” of Uruguay. What is particularly special about this bottle though is that while the grapes are from one single vineyard, they pick the grapes at three different points of the harvest. Early harvest has less sugar, later harvest more sugar. We tried the 2017 and believe it still needs a bit of aging in the bottle. Buy a bottle and save it for a special day!
Top Three Wine Brands:
San Pedro De Yacochuya: The red wines are developed by famous Bordeaux winemaker Michel Rolland. We never heard of him till now and are die-hard lifelong fans.
SoloContigo Wine: An 8.5M USD investment by a Canadian couple in their 70s originally to produce wine purely for their own enjoyment. SoloContigo means “Only For You” in Spanish.
Passionate Wines: We mentioned this one in the second wine recommendation. If you want to know the future of wine, this is the vineyard to follow. The winemaker is Matias Michelini and he is one of 3 winemaking brothers. If you hear “Michelini brothers” in reference to a wine, make sure to try it.
