Argentina
While rightly known for its rich, densely fruited Malbec wines, Argentina’s extraordinarily diverse climate, soils and altitudes has allowed a multitude of unexpected grape varieties to flourish. (Trousseau, anyone?) For a country whose wine industry originated in the 16th century, Argentina still feels ripe for discovery.
Argentina is the fifth largest wine producer in the world, and its pre-eminent region, Mendoza, is responsible for two-thirds of it. Mendoza is a warm, semi-arid region with very little rainfall, but thanks to melted snow from the Andes that tower to the west, the region produces wines that rival some of the best in the world.
Many Mendoza vineyards sit as high as 5,000 feet above sea level, Here, the air temperature stays relatively cool, and the vines receive significantly higher amounts of solar radiation than vines at sea level. Grapes here have the longest “hang-time” in the world, which creates balanced wines with vibrant color and an array of flavors.
Mendoza is largely defined by the French grape variety Malbec, where it achieves levels of ripeness that result in a smooth, darkly fruited red wine. Argentine Malbec was first exported to the U.S. over thirty years ago by winemaker Ricardo Santos, whose bottlings GVI Wines is proud to feature.
While Mendoza clearly stands out as a world-class wine-producing region, another region to the South, Patagonia, is rapidly taking the wine world by storm. Patagonia is cooler than Mendoza, which has allowed GVI Wines producer Aniello to craft crisp, citrus driven Chardonnay, savory Trousseau and floral, cherry-scented Pinot Noir.
The Wineries
