Mendoza: Adventures in Argentina Wine Country

Hola! He regresado de Argentina, y tengo mucho que decir sobre los vinos! Not sure if that's 100% perfect, but at least I can say my Spanish got a lot of practice, as did my palate! We tasted so many wines, I can't really begin to go into detail about them all. Instead, I'm going to summarize what I discovered about Argentine winemaking vs. Napa.

Everybody knows Mendoza is Malbec country. And i was definitely not let down! Most of the wineries have multiple lines of wines (a "clasico," "reserva," and maybe an ultra premium). These lines are sometimes distinguished by grapes used (from 1 farm, or finca, vs another), but mostly are defined by the oak used (or not).

Most of the cheapest wines did not use oak. I liked this idea in whites (especially Chardonnay...I'm over oaky chards!), but not in reds. Reds really do benefit from oak influence. That being said, the results are still very different. I tried Malbecs that were medium bodied, tight, slightly spicy, with notes of cherry and hickory, and others that were full bodied, really jammy and rich, smooth over the palate, with more succinct and barely tannic finishes. Personally, i preferred the latter. We get a lot of big tannic cabs from Napa, and i appreciated the juicy mouthfeel of the rich but smooth malbecs, although i will note that the brighter malbecs paired pretty well with rich beef empanadas.

I wasn't surprised to find a great range of delicious malbecs, but i WAS surprised to find one great pinot grigio and one great pinot noir! The Pinot Grigio was from Casnati Winery. It was light to medium bodied, had a lot of great fruits on the palate and a nice crisp finish. it was not watery at all (which is what i often, and admittedly unnecessarily assume with pinot grigio).

The Pinot Noir was from Palo Alto Winery, but apparently some other winery "stole" the name from them and patented it, so their higher end line (to which the Pinot Noir belongs) is now called "Amadores." I don't know if it's just because I haven't had pinot in a while, or because I had really low expectations, but their Pinot Noir was really great! Lots of barnyard on the nose, and it was smooth, well rounded, and medium bodied on the palate. I heard the pinots from Patagonia are really great, but I only tried this one in Mendoza (which was also great), so I'm really excited to see what comes out of Patagonia!

Argentina is a huge country with very different appellations, so I'm excited to see all the great wines that continue to emerge from there!

Wine tasting with the family

I recently hosted a wine tasting for my parents and my aunt and uncle. Since there would only be five of us, I wanted to keep it simple and taste 2 whites, 2 reds. But as my parents have been collecting (and forgetting) dozens of wines over the years, my mom suggested we try 6-7. This made it a lot more fun for me!

How it worked: We did a blind tasting of 3 whites, stopped to talk about each then revealed them afterwards, then 3 reds following the same procedure.

1. Brander Sauvignon Blanc, 2008, Santa Ynez, CA: $15 from the winery. It was exactly what you'd expect from a sauv blanc: light body, refreshing acidity, aromas and flavors of grass, citrus, and some green apple. It also paired nicely with the green olives we had. It wasn't my favorite Sauv blanc, it fell a little flat and i prefer more citrus and crispness on the palate.

2. Crios Torrontes, 2008, Mendoza, Argentina: $12 from Costco. This was also exactly what you'd expect from a Torrontes: light body, ripe tree fruit, melon, and some citrus on the palate with a short and crisp finish. Very floral on the nose, with aromas of lychee and plumeria. Everyone really enjoyed this and had no idea what varietal it was (I think it was their first time trying a Torrontes). My main take-away from this wine, was that it was very simple and drinkable. I think this is perfect for my parents that like an easy sipping wine, especially on a warm summer afternoon out on the patio.

3. La Crema Chardonnay, 2006, Napa, CA: $15 from Costco. CORKED! Too bad. But I dont really care for Chardonnay anyhow. My aunt is a big fan of classic oaky, buttery Chards and she of course knew in a second that this wine was not right. The rest of my family thought that it was supposed to smell moldy, and like damp towels. We still tasted it anyway, and it definitely maintain its buttery/oaky/toasty flavor, but we moved on fairly quickly.

4. J Winery Pinot Noir, 2004, Russian River Valley, CA: $50? from winery. I'm not sure about the price because when I went there recently, I believe their 2005 and 2006 pinots are around $50, so the '04 must've been around the same when we bought it. My sister, however, feels strongly that she paid $70 for this a few years ago when she bought it for my folks. I dont really believe her, so i'm going to call the winery and see if they know. Anyway, it was delicious! Light bodied, subtle tannins, inviting aromas of ripe cherries, plums, and some iodine. Smooth over the palate, finishing with a slight chalkiness in the back of the throat. Everyone guessed it was a pinot, but my mom thought maybe it was a merlot. i tried to keep them guessing so i reminded them that tannins smooth out over time, and since this wine was already 5 years old, it could be a light-style smooth aged merlot. Fooled them!

5. Ponte Family Sangiovese, Temecula, CA: $35 from winery. My aunt and uncle brought this over. Bright cherry, notes of tobacco, and a very subtle hint of soap (not unpleasant). It had a somewhat rough texture, but would pair nicely with something rich and fatty like duck. My mom did not like this one at first (because of it's tartness and astringent finish) but when I reminded her that we were just sipping these and not necessarily pairing with the right items (other than 3 types of cheese), she changed her mind.

6. BV Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003, Napa, CA: $65 from winery. It's as if everyone already knew this was the most expensive and also nicely aged. As soon as they smelled it, they were oo-ing and aah-ing. Personally I think it's because they assumed I did in fact save the best for last. Anyway, it was full bodied, with smooth yet structured tannins. Rich with black cherry, cassis, and hints of leather. The finish was moderate, laced with pleasant tannins. I think this would be perfect with a delcious steak (surprise surprise) and since my dad has 2 more bottles, i recommended that he brings it to Ruth's Chris next time they go.

Phew. I'm tired of writing for now, but I'm not quite done describing our tasting. I still have to talk about the Malbec we randomly decided to open after the tasting. But in the mean time, let me know your thoughts and whether you agree/disagree on my review of these wines!