When the team at the Argentine ambassador’s residence behind the pale blue and white flag that flutters over Belgrave Square in London had to choose a theme for a wine tasting last November, they chose Discovering Hidden Gems. The brief for participating UK wine importers was to pour ABM, anything but Malbec. After the event I was as convinced of the quality of many these non-Malbecs, many white, as I had been on various visits to Argentine wine country.
Catena Zapata, now run by Laura Catena, is arguably the leading producer of fine Argentine wine, but it was the two El Enemigo wines, a Semillon and a Cabernet Franc, from Laura’s younger sister Adrianna Catena with Catena Zapata’s head winemaker Alejandro Vigil, that really caught my attention. They proved how well these varieties can perform in Mendoza, Argentina’s prime wine-producing province. I’d already been impressed by the El Enemigo Cabernet Franc 2021 Uco Valley and Semillon 2022 Uco Valley when surprised to find such relative rarities in a tasting chez Tesco.
Admittedly Semillon is not a widely planted vine in Argentina – or anywhere much except Sauternes, where it’s generally associated with sweet wines (and is written Sémillon). But Argentina’s old Semillon vines can yield gorgeous dry whites with real depth and nuance. I see that, with one exception, my scores for the dozen dry Argentine Semillons I have a note on vary from 16.5 to 17.5 which is high praise from me. Mendel makes an exceptional example, from a vineyard originally planted in 1947 whose produce, before Mendel’s Roberto de la Mota rescued it, used to disappear into a blend for sparkling wine. Newer iterations include Matías Michelini’s Semillón Hulk and Finca Suárez’s example.
Cabernet Franc, the signature red wine grape of the Loire Valley and the traditional partner of Merlot in St-Émilion, is increasingly planted and respected in Argentina even if it too is much less common than the dominant vine variety Malbec. The El Enemigo 2021 version is still young with the oak a little obvious for now, but it shows the potential of the variety when grown in some of Mendoza’s higher subregions currently being developed, especially Gualtallary at almost 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in the Andes.
At the embassy tasting, Zuccardi’s Polígonos del Valle de Uco 2022 Cabernet Franc and Rutini’s 2017, both from Gualtallary, were especially distinguished. I’d previously tasted a captivating 2018 Gualtallary Cabernet Franc from Zorzal called Eggo Franco because it was aged in concrete eggs but alas the current vintage is not imported into the UK.
Another Bordeaux grape speciality that seems to do particularly well in Argentina is Petit Verdot. Until recent warmer summers in Bordeaux it often struggled to ripen fully there but that’s rarely a problem is Argentina’s sunny, unpolluted atmosphere. Finca La Anita’s 2018 from the Agrelo subregion was seriously winning, as was Atamisque’s much younger 2024 from Tupungato.
I am also rather a fan of the second most widely planted red-wine vine after Malbec, called Bonarda in Argentina and Charbono in California, but there was only one in the embassy tasting, from Colomé in Salta province well to the north of Mendoza. Bonarda makes juicy, fruity, very direct reds that are best drunk quite young. (As such, it reminds me of Austria’s Zweigelt.)
The best Argentine Chardonnays can certainly hold their own, with Catena Zapata, and Chacra in Rio Negro way to the south in northern Patagonia being especially accomplished producers. Corney & Barrow’s buyer has worked particularly hard at their South American selection, which included Marchiori & Barraud’s fine Chardonnay and Buscado Vivo o Muerto’s excellent Chardonnay-dominated field blend at the embassy showing.
The country’s pink-skinned Criolla grapes, once scorned, are gaining traction but Argentina’s white wine speciality is Torrontés, a grape variety that, like Muscat, actually does smell grapey, though Torrontés often has a more floral quality to it as well as perceptible weight. It’s especially at home in Salta, source of two of the more exciting examples shown at the embassy, a very youthful, fresh 2024 from Colomé and Vallisto’s 2023 that could easily stand comparison with a fine Viognier.
This last was just one of the offerings from the importer with the widest and most unconventional range of wines at the embassy. Ucopia World Wines is co-owned by Phil Crozier, who used to buy wine for the Gaucho restaurant chain and has been touring Argentine wine country for more than 25 years. He represented Wines of Argentina in the UK from 2018 to 2023.
After the tasting we discussed prospects for Argentine wine by email. He admits that ‘while Malbec has been an almost unprecedented success, it is now becoming a bit of a millstone around Argentina’s neck because of Malbec fatigue. Which begs the question – where next?’ Perhaps to my favourite wine from the Ucopia selection, an intriguing 2021 dry white blend called Ver Sacrum, Geisha Dragon del Desierto, if you please, partly aged under flor yeast. But Malbec will presumably continue to dominate Argentina’s much-needed wine exports for some time to come.
A bit like the Sauvignon Blanc that has proved so much more popular when grown in New Zealand than in its homeland in the Loire valley, Argentine Malbec has proved to have much wider appeal than wines from its birthplace, Cahors in south-west France. But for years there was a certain sameness about the big, ripe Mendoza Malbecs that have constituted well over half of all Argentina’s wine exports. This is slowly changing as clones are matched to terroirs and vines are planted ever higher in cooler climes. More and more Malbecs are labelled with a more specific appellation than just Mendoza. Such subregions as Gualtallary, Paraje Altamira, Los Chacayes and Vista Flores in the Uco Valley and Vistalba, Las Compuertas and Agrelo in the slightly lower Luján de Cuyo region are giving consumers a chance to identify geographical differences in their Malbecs (brilliantly described in Amanda Barnes’ South American Wine Guide).
But Crozier is worried about a possible unintended consequence of the complex new UK duty regime based on alcoholic strength, arguing it ‘will unfairly punish southern hemisphere wines due to higher alcohol levels. Argentina should not change their direction because of this. Recent years have seen a drop in alcohol levels from Argentina with the desire to express terroir much more. It would be a shame to lose that momentum if they went too far with early harvests and more winery intervention in reducing alcohol.’
Of course some drinkers enjoy Argentine reds precisely because of their relative potency. The great majority of the reds at the embassy tasting had either 14% or 14.5% on the label, and Penedo Borges’ Selección de Parcelas Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 was 15%.
Cabernet Sauvignon is the third most common red-wine vine in Argentina and there were three excellent examples at the embassy: Finca La Anita’s 2019 Agrelo, Marchiori & Barraud’s 2022 from gravelly Perdriel in Luján de Cuyo and that 15 percenter, also from Agrelo. I’ve heard some fans describe wines like these as cheaper alternatives to full-blown Napa Cabernet.
That’s one attribute of Argentine wine I have yet to mention. In an era of escalating wine prices, Argentina’s are relatively reasonable for the quality on offer. An important and, unfortunately, an increasingly unusual attribute.
Whites
Marchiori & Barraud Chardonnay 2023 Mendoza 14%
£15.25 Corney & Barrow
Ver Sacrum, Geisha Dragon del Desierto 2021 Los Chacayes 12.5%
£17 Corks of Bristol, £20.95 The Whisky Exchange and others
Penedo Borges, Prisma Gran Chardonnay 2021 Agrelo 14.5%
£17.95 Mr Wheeler, From Vineyards Direct
El Enemigo Semillon 2022 Uco Valley 13%
£18 Tesco
Vallisto Torrontés 2023 Cafayate 13%
£19.50 Vino.com, £19.95 Wellbrook Wines, £21 Highbury Vintners
Catena Zapata, Catena Alta Historic Rows Chardonnay 2021 Mendoza 13.5%
£23 The Wine Society
Buscado Vino o Muerto, El Límite Las Pareditas 2020 Uco Valley 12.5%
£24.95 Corney & Barrow
Michelini i Mufatto, Certezas Semillon 2021 Tupungato 12.5%
£39.30 Corney & Barrow
Reds
Penedo Borges, Cepas Cabernet Franc 2020 Agrelo 14.5%
£14.95 Mr Wheeler, From Vineyards Direct
Marchiori & Barraud Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 Mendoza 14.5%
£15.25 Corney & Barrow
Decero, Remolinos Vineyard Mini Edición Cabernet Franc 2018 Agrelo 14.5%
£26 VINVM
Weinert, Cavas de Weinert 2012 Mendoza 14.9%
£55 a magnum The Wine Society
Matias Riccitelli, Bastardo 2022 Río Negro 13.5%
£40.99 All About Wine, £43 Hic!, £43.50 Shelved Wine
For tasting notes, scores and suggested drinking dates see our tasting notes database and, especially, Argentina's other grapes. For international stockists see Wine-Searcher.com.
