Wine
Argentine Angus
Tom Bruce Gardyne
THERE IS NOTHING reticent about Argentina. We would have heard a lot more about her wines had there been any to spare. Of the small amount that does seep out from this, the world's fifth largest producer, very little makes it over here. But this could well change. With falling demand at home, the country is having to look abroad and, for once, the economy is rela- tively stable with the currency pegged tO the dollar and inflation well down from the 5,000 per cent of four years ago. Argenti- na's top wine-makers have been spurred on by the success of Chile — the arch-rival across the Andes — and one or two superb wines are now being made. Britain's major buyers are beginning to take the country seriously. Could Argentina be the next 'big thing'?
To find out, I set off across the mighty pampas to where the vineyards lie next to the Andes. Travelling light, due to the air- line losing my bags, I was soon standing among the vines in a balls-achingly tight pair of flares, lent to me in Buenos Aires. Wiping a tear from my eye, I asked about January's hailstorms. The newspapers had carried stories of devastation and pictures of lacerated cattle and dead piglets killed by hailstones the size of eggs. In a bad year, and this is the worst since the 1930s, there is little you can do except fire rockets at the hail-forming clouds in the hope of raising temperatures and so forcing them to drop their load early, preferably on someone else.
The province of Mendoza, where three- quarters of the wine comes from, has lost a third of its crop, thanks to hail and an earli- er frost. It was beginning to look as if the next 'big thing' was not going to be in 1993. It was the Spanish who brought the vine to Argentina in the mid-16th century, to make their communion wine. Three hun- dred years later the first French varieties arrived, followed by a weird assortment of Spanish and Italian cuttings, clutched in the hands of immigrants as they flooded in to escape the ravages of phylloxera that was plaguing Europe at the time. On one boat full of immigrants from Genoa was a Senor Pulenta who founded Penaflor, now the third largest winery in the world. With him, so the story goes, was a certain Senor Gallo who did not like Buenos Aires and was last heard of in California.
Penaflor is a byword for bulk. Their smart wines come under the Trapiche label and include a delicious chardonnay whose fresh, up-front fruit was not drowned in oak, and a rich plum-pudding of a cabernet. Better still were the wines of Weinert — especially their 1992 Malbec — an inky- purple brew of pepper and spice. The bode- ga was brought by Bernado Weinert in 1975 and really shows just how good Argentinian wine can be. Their guru wine-maker, Raul de la Motta, explained how Mendoza's dry heat and near-constant sunshine is ideal for Malbec. In France the grape is in danger of extinction — it has disappeared from Bor- deaux and only exists in AC Cahors, where it makes up a minimum of 80 per cent of the blend. When Tesco invited Jacques Lurton, the famous French oenologist, to make an Argentine wine for them, he chose Malbec.
The Andes, which reach well over 15,000 feet at this point, prevent any dampness 'Left, left. . no one. . . left. . . seeping in from the Pacific. It is bone-dry and, but for irrigation, the vineyards would be barren scrub with a few thorn trees and the odd goat. The problem with playing God in the vineyard and deciding how much water to provide is that the Argen- tinians can be incredibly generous. But those producers who are less tap-happy, especially in the month before the vintage, and who really believe in controlling tem- peratures during fermentation are making some fine stuff. The soil seems not to mat- ter too much, though the brochure of my favourite bodega — Goyenechea — boasts of their unique mix of sand and slime. Here in the south of the province of Mendoza they make a good, jammy Cabernet Sauvi- gnon called Aberdeen Angus. The label features a prime bull of the breed, which has a huge fan club in Argentina. Among the other wineries that stood out in Men- doza was Bodegas Lopez and their 1985 Château Le Vieux — soft caramel and blackberries. It is a blend of merlot, caber- net sauvignon and a little sangiovese. It is doomed to fail over here unless we over- come our obsession with New World wines having to be varietal.
Five hundred miles north, virtually in Bolivia, is the province of Salta. The beauti- ful tropical colours and steep-sided moun- tains are another world compared with the parched plains of the south. Here the vine- yards are among the highest in the world at 5-6,000 feet. It is thanks to the altitude and the consequent cool of the evening that grapes such as pinot noir and chardonnay can be grown at all. The area is famous for its torrentes — a uniquely Argentine vari- ety that makes a floral and intensely aro- matic wine, not unlike a dry muscat. Helped by their consultant wine-maker, Michel Rolland of Château Le Bon Pas- teur, Pomerol, Bodegas Etchart makes a delightfully crisp, honeyed chardormay and undoubtedly the best torrentes. After talking and tasting wine all day it was bliss to sit under the stars and have an assado — a barbecue — eating and drink- ing Aberdeen Angus. But even here you could not escape the royals . . 'ow is Ser- afergooseon . . . ?". `ow is Ladidee . . . ?' I was even told that within a month of Camillagate a Brazilian brand of tampon had appeared on the market `by appoint- ment' to an unspecified prince. The wines of Argentina deserve to be better known, especially the Malbec. They are slowly becoming more available following the recent trips of Britain's larger buyers. How- ever, some of the producers seem a trifle lackadaisical in their export philosophY. One was said to have told his agent that he could not possibly interrupt his siesta to see Sainsbury's at 2.15. When pressed, he said, 'I don't care if it's the Pope,' and hung up.
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