Drinking Wine in Argentina

If our first blog was dove-related, it makes complete sense to have our second blog about Argentine wines! Thankfully Argentina is blessed with great wine areas. Mendoza on the edge of the Andes is the most well-known area for Argentine wines. Mendoza is located 7 hours east of Cordoba and there is a flight daily between the cities. My other personal favorite wine areas are Salta in the North that produce the highest altitude wines in the world and Patagonia in the South where you can find one of my favorite vineyards Fin del Mundo.

Argentina is a red wine drinking country. Around 95% of the production are reds. Before the devaluation in 2002, most of Argentine wines were consumed internally. After the devaluation Argentina started to increase its production and export wines all over the world. Today Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wines in the world.

The most well known grape is the Malbec. The Malbec grape was brought over by the French because it did not grow well in France. The Latin translation is Mal (bad) Bec (grape). But the malbecs are definitely awesome in Argentina. I also enjoy the Cabs. A client of ours recommends 2006 and 2007 as good harvest years. Of course an Argentine wine is best enjoyed eating an asado or bbq.

In order to drink Argentina wine in your country, you can probably visit a local wine store. Some very nice and popular names are Catena Zapata, Rutini, Salentein and Cobos. The truth is that Argentina produces tons of great and affordable wines. So ask your local dealer what he likes most. Enjoy!!!