Together with its close neighbour Chile, Argentina is blazing a trail for South American wines. The two countries are more or less unique in the sub-continent in terms of their worldwide reputation for producing quality white wines, although to some extent Paraguay and Brazil are beginning to make inroads into the export market.
Of the New World countries, Argentina and Chile have perhaps the best reputation for producing affordable white wine, although anybody who takes this affordability to mean poor quality would be very pleasantly surprised by some Argentinean wines on the market today. The country may only have recently emerged onto the wine scene, but has in fact been producing white wine for centuries and the country´s varied landscape and climate lend themselves well to viticulture.
Today, the most celebrated of the white wines to come from Argentina, but the country is no one-trick pony, producing excellent examples of many different types of still and sparkling white wine. Happily for the consumer, rising demand for white wine from Argentina has not led to a sharp rise in prices and there are still plenty of great value Argentinean wines on the supermarket shelves just waiting to be snapped up.
It should come as no great surprise that a country colonised by the Spanish should have a long history of wine production and indeed the first wine grape vines planted in Argentina in the 1500s were cuttings brought over by the Spanish conquistadors. The wine-loving Spanish, together with the many Italian families that had emigrated to Argentina, cultivated the vineyards with care, although it was a Frenchman who set up Argentina´s first viticulture-based Agricultural school, educating local winemakers in new techniques that led to a significant increase in the quality of white wine being produced in the country. The French and Italian influence also saw many new varietals of white wine grape introduced to Argentina and the country´s temperate central regions proved to be a good host for many different types of grape.
The late 1800s saw the introduction of waterways to Argentina, which brought moisture to the arid lands of the north and allowed for previously unsuitable areas of the country to be nurtured as vineyards. Today, there are some 1.5 million acres of vineyard in Argentina, making it a major player on the world wine scene by anybody´s standards
The most famous of the wine producing regions is beautiful, verdant Mendoza, with other celebrated regions being La Rioja, Rio Negro and San Juan. The latter areas have a fair amount of catching up to do, however, as Mendoza currently produces around 70 per cent of Argentina´s white wine. There is increasing foreign investment in the country too, with winemakers from the United States, the UK, Portugal and even the mighty France setting up vineyards in the country.
Of all the white wines to come from Argentina, the best received both domestically and internationally has been Torrontes. This is the country´s signature wine and it has gained a solid fan base the world over. Traditionally served as a table wine with meals in Argentina, Torrontes divides opinion over whether its grape is native or a hybrid that stems from Spanish grapes. However, while its origins are up for debate, few could deny that it is a very drinkable wine and today´s viticulture techniques have improved the quality of the wine to the extent that it´s now as likely to be found on the tables of European or North American wine lovers as those of the local cafe. A good sipping wine, Torrontes also works well with pasta and seafood dishes and is typically aged without oak in order to preserve delicate flavours such as citrus and peach.
Torrontes has recently made major waves in the wine world, not least because its crisp, fresh taste is so distinctive. Critics tend to rate bottles from the Salta province as the best of the Torrontes wines – perhaps in part due to the high altitude of the region, allowing for both warm sun and cooling night time temperatures.
Whatever the reason for its superior taste, Torrontes from Salta is a delight to drink and, once sampled, easily establishes itself as a favourite on anybody´s New World wine list. However, there is more to Argentina´s wine scene than simply Torrontes and the country also makes some excellent Rieslings, Semillons and classic Chardonnays. For those looking for a bit of sparkle that won´t break the bank, the country also produces some great value sparkling whites and roses.
