Western world builds taste for Argentine wines
Argentina is the fifth-largest wine-producing country in the world and has the third-highest per capita consumption of wine. But chances are you’ve not heard much about Argentine wine. The reason is, that up until about 15 years ago, they drank it all themselves.
Because the indigenous population of Argentina is relatively poor, they couldn’t afford the best of wines so they bought inexpensive wine. And you can’t make a living exporting cheap wine. Nor can you export and sell wine unless the buyer has heard of it. That’s why the wine stores are wall to wall with relatively expensive Cabernet, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc.
Although a few grapes came to Argentina from Spain and were planted on the east coast, most vines came from Chile and Peru with Jesuit priests in about 1557 and were planted along the front range of the Andes.
By 1580, there was a flourishing commercial trade supplying wine to the east coast. In 1885, with the opening of the railroad
between Mendosa in the west with Buenos Aires on the coast, there was a large market for the, inexpensive western, Vino De Mesa, wines. The Argentines’ per capita consumption was just less than 25 gallons annually, and because the infants weren’t drinking much, everyone else must have been three sheets to the wind most of the time.
Half the grapes were pink, which make a rosé wine, and one-third of the grapes grown were white grapes, leaving the black grapes that produce red wine in the minority. An online search of the wine available shows the Argentineans must still be drinking most of the local grape varietal wines. Criollas Grande, Criollas Chica and Cereza are among the pink grapes and make a vin de mesa rosé wine, but any of them are quite difficult to find for sale outside Argentina.
The most widely grown white grape is Ugni Blanc. Although it is difficult to find Argentine Ugni Blanc, the grape is the most widely grown white grape in France. It is used to make the brandies, Cognac and Armagnac. You can obtain French Ugni Blanc-Colombard from TariQuet for $10 a bottle.
As for the reds, they were about one-sixth of the production, and even though Argentina is a beef-eating country, people preferred to wash it down with a rosé wine.
In the latter half of the 20th century, the per capita consumption dropped dramatically to about 10 gallons a year, probably because of DUI laws with stiff penalties. In any case the farmers in the west began eyeing the international wine market.
To suit the international fashion, they began pulling the local grapes out by the roots and replacing them with Cabernet and Chardonnay. A pity really, but fortunately in San Juan Provence, they were already growing a black grape, Malbec. It wasn’t one of the fashionable international varietals, but the wine was so good that it captured a large international following anyway.
Do try an Argentine Malbec from Mendoza or San Juan. A Broquel Malbec is $15 a bottle, Misterio Malbec is $8 and a Septima Malbec is $13.
Because the wines of Argentina grow on the high plains at the front range of the Andes, you might expect that the high plains at the front range of the Rockies in North America might be a good place to grow wine grapes. To test the hypothesis, try a wine from Denver — Bonacquisti 2007 Vinny No Neck Sangiovese costing $16 a bottle — now ‘ats-a abundanza.