Consumer Reports Agrees: Argentine Malbec Is The Future

God has spoken. Consumer Reports finally got around to confirming the undeniable high quality and value of Argentina’s flagship grape, Malbec. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/beverages/wine/malbec-the-new-merlot-2-08/overview/malbec-the-new-merlot-ov.htm

I’ll admit I was slight confused by the reports title “Is Malbec the New Merlot?” No- Malbec will never be Merlot. What does that mean anyway?

Sure both varietals have the ability to be elegant and complex or casual and everyday. But Malbec is Argentina’s claim to fame with a charm all its own. Grapes grow well consistently here and make unqiue exciting wines. And it shows most wines sampled received high ratings.

But, with over a thousand wineries in Argentina someone is bound to cut corners and laugh all the way to the bank. For example a 2005 Cantena Zapata was rated “far from the top”. This big name winery dominates the wine scene and uses this leverage to mark high prices. Is there wine good? Most of the time. Is it priced fairly? No. So how can you be sure to get the best of the best bargain in town? Argentine wines are a great value, especially when it comes to boutique wineries. Carefully crafted limited production wines made with integrity can be excellent with surprisingly low prices.

“Chang! Party of Four for Wine Tasting!”

This week we had the distinct pleasure of hosting 4 Changs for a wine tastings of Argentina’s best. It turns out, though, that they were two separate groups of two who happened to find us on the same day. How ironic.

Naturally all of our wines were Chang approved, especially the Don Juan Reserva by Perdices. We poured classic favorites from our collection and allowed our guests to choose from the selection opened earlier for an in-company tasting. A very expressive Sauvignon Blanc from Las Perdices could not have been more appropriate as Peter and his wife are building home in New Zealand. We were excited to show how well Argentina does New Zealands most popular variety.

The groups hit it off. Turns out all the Changs have a real flare for gourmet food. Conversation about the West Coast dining scene ate up most of the conversation as the groups shared stories about their time in Oregon and Washington. We ended the tasting with the Changs exchanging contact information and writing down Anuva’s own recommendations for several nearby restaurants.

Wine Should Not Go Down the Drain

It seems that the phenomenon of the shotgun approach to winemaking is not limited to California producers. Here in Argentina, we also find tremendous numbers of wineries dropping of or shipping Anuva samples of the 12 different varietals, 6 bi-varietals, and 6 blend 1st or 2nd vintage.

The suprising thing to me is how similar all the wines turn out to be. Medicinal Malbec, cough syrup Syrah and Cabernet, overly oaked Chardonnays, and none in the bunch actually speak to me.

It kills me to pour so much wine down the drain. Especially knowing how much effort and money goes into making each bottle, designing each label, selecting corks, driving the logistics process, etc.  But the reality is that I don’t even want to cook with these.

Several examples of new wineries, however, do exist that have a distinct focus. Naiara, Las Perdices, Cavagnaro, Vinos de los Andes all make either exclusively one varietal or only 3-5 different wines in total.

Las Perdices is actually an example of a winery that could do 18-30 different wines. Carlos Muñóz, the owner and winemaker there, has tanks of Tannat, Bonarda, Cab-Franc and other varietals just sitting there to play with in his blends. That to me says careful winemaking and well thought out products and thus it is rare that any of his samples ever get tossed down the drain.

Yerba Mate Tasting in Buenos Aires–Rules Apply

Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil and especially Uruguay partake in the tradition of Yerba Mate. Just to be clear, there is no accent on the “e” of mate. It’s pronounced “MAH-tay” with the accent on the first syllable. Self-righteous marketers in the U.S. have begun putting an accent on the e of mate in order to differentiate it from the English word of the same spelling. A better solution would be to change the spelling altogether.

More to the point, sipping the herbal infusion tea mate is a very cultural, communal event. “Hacemos un mate”, is a catch phrase between friends that means much more than just getting together and having tea. Especially because of how this particular tea is consumed. The dry leaves (the yerba (herb) or hierba) are put into the mate (the thing you drink out of) and the “bombilla” (metal straw with built in filter) is inserted. Then the mate is filled repeatedly with hot (usually scalding in my opinion) water.

The Rules:

1. Everyone drinks out of the same mate. This for Americans espcially can be disconcerting at first since we have a very “this is my space, this is my property” attitude. I was this way as well: “Haven’t they ever thought about sharing germs!!” This is not the point. The process is:

• The “cebador” (feeder) pours the first mate and drinks it or spits it out as it’s pretty strong. (This I also find hilarious as you will see that the rules below contradict the spitting of the first mate)
• Then the cebador pours a mate for the first person in the group and they drink it, completely. That person then passes the mate back to the cebador.
• The cebador then fills the mate again and passes it to the second person. They drink and pass back.
• Saying “gracias” means that you are done drinking and do not want anymore and you will be skipped in the next rotation.

2. DO NOT, under any circumstances, move the bombilla. This is forbidden and will “wash” or spoil or spend the yerba. I have developed a theory around this called “The Conservation of Yerba” which is loosely based on physics principles like the Conservation of Mass and the Conservation of Energy.

3. DO NOT, under any circumstances, boil the water before “cebando” mate (cebar loosely means “to feed” but is only used when referring to mate) as this will also “wash” the yerba.

4. DO NOT, under any circumstances, add cold water to the mate itself. Even if it’s scalding hot (which it usually is) you just have to wait.

The flavor profile of yerba mate can best be described as bitter, strong, herbal and green. After all, it is an herb and it is, in fact, green. But once the taste is acquired, it can become quite a habit. In Uruguay especially, people have huge mates and walk down the street carrying them with their 1 Liter thermoses under their arms on the way to work.

Cockney Visits Buenos Aires Argentina

Jan is Guy’s “Trouble in strife”. She has trouble with the “apples and pears” at times since she has arthritis. Right!

They hail from Winnipeg, Canada joined us for a wine tasting Thursday. They shared their plans to travel to Mendoza for a few days before taking a chauffer service through the Andes and into Chile. They had spent time in Bordeaux and enjoy learning about different wine regions. They recently became curious about Argentine wines.

Guy originally from central London shared a bit of Cockney slang. From within the sound of Bow Bells (St Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside, London) came this clever rhyming dialect. I was delighted to hear Daniel and our guests converse. They explained that Cockney originated in order to speak freely in the presence of police or authorities.

According to www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk “Rhyming Slang phrases are derived from taking an expression which rhymes with a word and then using that expression instead of the word. For example the word “look” rhymes with “butcher’s hook”. In many cases the rhyming word is omitted – so you won’t find too many Londoners having a “bucher’s hook” at this site, but you might find a few having a “butcher’s”.”

During the tasting we experimented with different simple pairings. Crisp green apples topped with “dollops” of light whipped cheese paired perfectly with the Hom espumante. While a triad of chocolates brought out the multiple personalities of the Gran Reserva; fruit, smoky, vanilla, creamy velvety perfection.

Conversation drifted from wine and inhibitions over political correctness dropped away. Guy and Jan shared with us how well they had been treated traveling through Argentina and how accommodating the airports had been to their needs. Guy jested proposing a fictitious business plan for time saving service called “rent a cripple”. We are pretty sure it would be quite controversial and politically incorrect although perhaps an enormously successful business.

After recommending one of our favorite pizza places we bid our guests farewell. While cleaning up Daniel and I noted what a great evening it had been. Anuva is true to the real intention of wine; to relate to others. We use our wine tastings to learn about wine and meeting wonderful people from every corner of the globe in an intimate relaxed setting.

Blueberry Bonarda, Masculine Malbec, Ridiculous Reserve

Our tasting last night in Buenos Aires had everyone focused on the nuances of the wine and the terroir. Terms like acidic, oily, fat, hard, harsh, tannic, round tannin, soft tannin, hard tannin, and so forth take so much time to understand because of their previous meanings to people, and the lack of the use of these terms as they pertain to wine. I love it though, when they really have a revelation about how they taste wine and what they like.

Abundantly apparent to me was the acidity in the Hom Espumante, the sweet apricot and white flower aroma of Anecon Torrontes, the blueberry pie (we like pie in wine) burst in Durigutti Bonarda, the tobacco and leather in Cavagnaro Malbec, and the alluring pleasure of Don Juan Reserve.

For all the guests, the Torrontés surprised, the ladies favored the Bonarda and the Reserve, and the gentlemen the Malbec and the Reserve.

The learning experience, as usual impressed me as well as our guests, who tell me that only the bottom of the barrel of Argentine wines arrive to the UK. I find that tremendously disappointing in the worlds most competitive wine market. I guess those of us promoting wine from Argentina must simply work harder to get the word out about the greatness that is produced here at the moment.

Cabernet Franc in Secondary Argentina, Not Mendoza

Most people equate all good wine coming out of Argentina with Mendoza. Perhaps if they are savvy with Salta also, but few know the wines of San Juan or have even heard of them. Strange that we found two Cabernet-Francs from San Juan (the province immediately north of Mendoza) that simply blew us away.

The first is from Vinos de los Andes, the same winery that brought you Anecon Torrontés from Salta (in the extreme North of Argentina). Beatriz Quiroga, the winemaker at Vinos de los Andes, was kind enough to share a bottle with us in the park when we went to visit her last week. It’s as if a layer of natural whipped cream with ripe red berries mixed in hovers over the top of this wine. A velvety mouthful of dark cherry and vanilla follows this delctible nose with a long finish that turns a bit more peppery. “Un vinasso!”

The other gem of a Cabernet-Franc from San Juan comes from our friend Pablo Lijtain, the owner of Finca Morera. Besides doing a fabulous oaked viognier (which is exclusive to Anuva) Pablo’s Cab-Franc stands out among all wines. Again, a rich butter-cream topping leads the nose with hints of vanilla extract. In the mouth, yellow cake batter and cream cheese frosting follow as do hints of red-fruit jam. “Un exito total!”

Tasting Wines in Mendoza and Anuva Press

I’ve been here in Mendoza for the last week and met with nearly all of the wineries we work with in addition to several new ones. What’s great, is that at the same time we came out in the press again!

http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/eat-and-drink/articles/0309-pour/

Toronto? No, Torrontés!

A group of world-cruising Canadians cracked open some bottles with me Tuesday night in Buenos Aires. They will visit something like 24 ports in 49 days on a cruise that takes them from Miami all the way to San Francisco, the long way.

And man did they eat up the Torrontés! Being hot and muggy in Buenos Aires these days means that the cool refreshment of the honey-flower Torrontés really appeals to people.

The funny thing is that our lovely group from Canada kept wanting to say “Toronto” instead of Torrontés. We had a good time trying to put the accent on the right syllable.

I then helped them order healthy portions of steak and the wondrous El Primo Parrilla in Buenos Aires, one of my personal favorites for steak. They so loved the Torrontés on it’s own and with the traditional Argentine “picada” (salamis and cheeses) that one of them ordered another bottle with the steak.Very much in line with the Anuva philosophy on food combining. If it tastes good, do it!

No Accounting For Wine Taste

As is in line with the Anuva philosophy on wine, a wonderful group of Belgian wine tasters joined us on Friday for a sampling of Argentina’s best bottlings and I confirmed my theory on the subjective nature of taste.

We tasted Hom Espumante, Anecon Torrontés, Naiara Malbec, Duriguttui Bonarda, and Las Perdices Don Juan. Wouldn’t you know it, the group was pretty equally divided among what their favorite wines were and accordingly, as their food came out, their preferences went about changing.

The first strong comment of the night came from a woman who said she would never want to drink the Naiara Malbec again. Being a merchant of this product on top of the fact that I am a fan, I was taken aback, but then relieved as the rest of the group came to my rescue. The other 6 tasters really liked the Naiara and an interesting discussion ensued over taste. Which led to a discussion of European wine, then Belgian beer.

Man do we need some more Belgian beer here! Does anyone disagree that it is the most tasty beer ever? Maybe my micro-brewer friends from Portland, Oregon…