Financial Times 03.7.2020

FT.COM/MAGAZINEMARCH 7/82020 41

With their subregions,whetherofficialor not, and alcoholicstrengths

•Cadus, Finca Viña Vida

2014 LosChacayes14.5%

•Catena Zapata, Adrianna

Vineyard,FortunaTerrae

2016 Gualtallary14.3%

•Chevaldes Andes

2016 Las Compuertas/

PajareAltamira14%

•Colomé,Estate 2018

Upper Calchaquí

Valley14.5%

•Cuvelier LosAndes2017

VistaFlores 14.5%

•DiamAndes2015 Vista

Flores 14.5%(with 25%

CabernetSauvignon)

•Dominiodel Plata,

Nosotros Sofita2015

LosChacayes14.5%

(with 20% Petit Verdot)

•EstanciaLosCardones

2018 Tolombon14%(with

10%other varieties)

•Fabre Montmayou

Gran Reserva 2017

Vistalba 14.5%

•LUI, Gran Reserva2017

Gualtallary14.2%

•Manos Negras, Stone

Soil 2018 Pajare

Altamira13.5%

•Mendel,Finca Remota

2017 PajareAltamira14.5%

•MicheliniiMuffato,

La Cautiva2017

Gualtallary13.8%

•Nieto Senetiner,

Don NicanorSingle

Vineyard VillaBlanca

2015 Vistalba 15%

•PerSe,Jubileus 2017

Gualtallary14%

•PiedraNegra,Gran

Malbec 2014 Las

Chacayes14.5%

•Trapiche,Terroir

SeriesFinca Coletto

2015 El Peral14.1%

•Tres14, Imperfecto 2016

Gualtallary14% (with

3% Cabernet Franc)

•Trivento,Eolo 2016

Lujan de Cuyo14.5%

•Zuccardi, Concreto 2018

Paraje Altamira14%

H

avingjustreturnedfrom

myfirsttripinfiveyears

toArgentina,theworld’s

fifthbiggestwineproducer,

itstrikesmethatArgentinewine

producersarevery,verygoodat

manyaspectsofwineproduction

andvery,verybadatone.

GOOD

TerroirconsciousnessThisisall

therage.Argentinewineproducers

usedtobeobsessedbyheight,

boastingonlabelsabouthowmany

metresuptheAndeanfoothillstheir

vineyardswere.Today,thefocus

seemstobeonsoil–especiallyin

thehighUcoValley, whereallthe

newerplantingshavetakenplace.

Currently, thevalleyisbeing

carvedupintoofficialsub-regions,or

IGs(in dicacióngeográfica),according

totheirsoiltypeandgeology. Itisa

fraughtprocess,notleastbecause

thenamesofthetwomostobvious

IGcandidates, Altamiraand

Gualtallary,havebeentrademarked.

Forwhatisnowthecarefullynamed

IGPajareAltamira,theyhave

managedtoestablishtheboundaries

ofthealluvialfanat900mto

1,200m(500mistraditionally

consideredthehighestviable

altitudeforEuropeanvineyards).

Butbecauseofcompetingclaims,

theprocesshasbeensodifficult

thattheyhavenotsucceededin

doingthesameforevenhigherand

moreextensiveGualtallary,whose

reputationfornervy, finelychiselled

winesisalreadysowellestablished

thatmanyproducersputthename

ontheirlabelseventhoughithas

noofficialstatus.Asmanyasfive

differentIGswithinGualtallary

arebeingdiscussed,withthird-

generationwinemakerSebastián

Zuccardiapassionateproponent

ofthisquestforappellations.

Zuccardiadmitsthatthisisway

aheadofwhatmostconsumersare

askingforandthat“itwilltakemore

thanonegeneration.Eventually,

therewillprobablybejustthreeor

fourIGsthatbecomeknownoutside

Argentina.But,inthem,some

producerswillmakewinesthatwill

elevateArgentina’simageoverall.”

CertainlyArgentina–oratleast

theUcoValley–seemstobestreets

aheadofmostothernon-European

wineregionsinitseffortstolabel

terroirwithrealprecision.

New-waveMalbecThisgoeshand

inhandwiththegeneralmove

uphill.Formanywinedrinkers,

ArgentineMalbecisseenasa

big,brash,sweetish,oftenoaky,

bargainvariantonstereotypical

NapaCabernet.Andthatmaywell

bewhatmanyconsumerswantit

tobe.Butthecountry’snew-wave

wineproducershavedifferent

ideas. Nowadays,theirperfect

Malbecexpressesterroir(see

above),isfresh(pickedearlier)and

texturedratherthanoaky(often

madeinconcretenotoak)evenif

alcohollevelsarerelativelyhigh.

ImustsayIwasamazedbyhow

Malbec-centrictheArgentinewine

industryis.Malbecmayrepresent

just22percentofthecountry’s

215,000haofvineyardbutitseems

toconstitutethevastmajority

ofbottledwinesonthemarket.

Argentineconsumerswillpaymore

forMalbecthananythingelse.

Exportershaveenjoyedbalmy

times, thankstoUSdemand,but

therearesignsthatmaybeover.

SouthAmericanspecialistimporter

BrazosWineinCalifornia,for

example,isnowaskingArgentine

suppliersfor“anythingbutMalbec”.

Blends–bothredandwhite–

seemincreasinglypopular.

OthervarietiesOnealternativeto

MalbeccouldbeCabernetFranc.

JustastheMalbecgrapeseemsso

muchmoredelicious,variedand▶

RecommendednewwaveArgentineMalbecs

‘Argentinewineproducers

usedtobeobsessedby

heightbutnowthefocus

seemstobeonsoil’

Argentina–mainlyexcellent

Jancis

Robinson

Wine

Tasting noteson

JancisRobinson.com.

Internationalstockists

on Wine-searcher.com

As imagined by Leon Edler