You could make the argument that my journey into the wine industry began with Argentinian malbec. Even before I was pouring wines in restaurants, taking orders and learning the table numbers, it was the first wine with which I became truly familiar. It was the black bottle with the white label that lined our supermarket shelves, and what people on the telly with expensive haircuts and thick resin bangles poured into large glasses.
Back then, Argentinian malbec was everywhere – and it still is. It has been a hero grape for Argentina since it was introduced to the country in 1868 by a French agronomist named Michel Pouget. Although vines have been cultivated in Argentina since the Spanish colonisation in the 1600s, originally to produce wine for mass, it was in 1853 that the president tasked Pouget with invigorating his nation’s winemaking.
Pouget started a vine nursery in Mendoza, named Quinta Agronómica de Mendoza,where he cultivated the country’s first French grapes, including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and, of course, malbec. Spanish and Italian immigrants brought with them their own native varieties, many of which took to the Argentinian climate, while the development of the cross-Andes Transandine railway allowed the export of wines to affluent Buenos Aires in one direction and an increase in immigrant workers from the big cities in the other.
However, after a period of extreme economic instability in the 1980s, the Argentinian wine industry collapsed, with grape and wine prices dropping by 80% and domestic consumption plummeting. The story continues in a familiar way: the emphasis on quantity over quality contributed to Argentina developing a negative reputation as a bulk wine-producing country, a reputation it has shaken off only relatively recently.
Malbec has played a huge part in the resurgence of Argentinian wine, but as a result it’s sometimes easy to forget about the country’s other wines. Bonarda, its second most-planted grape, is fruity and smooth, and often blended with other grapes to increase its complexity. Then there are other French varieties: cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon do well here, where high elevation brings a fresh yet ripe expression to both grapes. Elsewhere, criolla grande is also used as a blending grape or to produce inexpensive wine for the domestic market, but I am now seeing more single-variety bottles popping up, so maybe it’s a future “underrated gem” that’s ripe for a renaissance.
As for Argentine whites, they tend to get overlooked altogether. There’s cereza, which, although a white variety, is pink-skinned (like pinot gris) and floral (like gewürztraminer); and chardonnay, which, when grown in cooler regions and at a high altitude, produces classy, mineral wines. And it would be remiss of me not to mention torrontés, a variety known for intense aromatics and grown throughout Argentina. It’s a cross between muscat of alexandria and mission grapes, which incidentally is the name given to the grape initially introduced to South America by Spain.
Four Argentine wines that aren’t malbec
Doña Paula Single Vineyard Gualtallary Chardonnay 2024 £12.95 The Wine Society, 13%. High-altitude vineyards produce a fresh, pure, citrussy wine.
Santa Julia Bonarda £12.99 Click N Drink, 13.5%. Summer fruits of cherry and strawberry abound on the palate, with a bit of spice.
Recoleta Criolla Grande Tinto 2021 £13.50 Drinkmonger, 13%. Good acid and bright red fruit. No wonder criolla grande is enjoying a moment.
Matías Riccitelli Blanco de la Casa 2021/23 £25.50 Hic!, 12.5%. A fruity blend of sauvignon blanc, semillon and chardonnay. Fermented in concrete eggs.
