Argentina is starting to get a grip on producing the right sort of wines at the right sort of prices. The potential is frankly huge. New investment is coming to fruition, the place feels dynamic and the whites have been boosted by a cool, long harvest in 2008.

Provided that they can keep the economy under control, Argentinians may well be providing you with the most exciting flavours that the New World can offer in the next couple of years.

The heritage of producers and ‘bodegeros’ (the winery owners) is broadly Italian and Spanish, mixed now with recent investment in winemakers and technology from French, American and even Australian companies.
Alto Pampas Viognier and its Pinot Noir partner are a delicious pairing and recommended particularly as party wines: they have a generosity that is rarely found at the price. Getting more serious with the whites, you should try Lurton’s Pinot Gris, a wine that punches well above its weight, particularly if you like Pinot Grigio from Italy. French winemaker François Lurton spotted the potential for this grape variety and has carved out a real winner. Chenin Blanc works well for Lurton too, albeit at a simpler level in the Tierra de Luna range.

In the reds, Barbera, Bonarda and Sangiovese all make good, characterful wines, but the star is Malbec, described recently as ‘once cultivated unsuccessfully by the French’! Depending how rich and spicy you like your wine, the natural progression at the Lurton stable is from Tierra de Luna Malbec to Malbec Reserva, finishing up with the quite seriously structured Piedra Negra Gran Reserva, one of the emerging stars of the ‘Southern Cone’. To contrast with the Lurton wines, we bring you Weinert, one of the oldest bodegas in Argentina. Their wines are rather more structured and fit well with food, particularly beef!

Robert Boutflower