We have some truly superb new reds from small family boutique vineyards. The quality of these wines has to be sampled to be believed! With the Euro increasing the price of Italian wines, Argentina is set for a boom in trade.Argentina is the fifth largest producer of wine in the world and until recently was a large consumer too. However economic crisis and spiralling inflation have helped reduce their domestic consumption. At the same time a shift in political attitudes opened up Argentina's borders and investors from the USA and Europe invested heavily in vineyard and winery projects. The results were a dramatic improvement in quality and the replanting of some traditional grape varieties with International ones, and the introduction of Argentinian wines onto the Inernational market. Argentinian grapes of note include Torontes for the white and Bonarda and Tannat for the red. They are best known for their excellent reds made from the Malbec grape, which ripens far better in the Argentinian climate than it ever could in it's native France. Argentina lies between the same lines of latitude as South Africa, South Australia and New Zealand and has a similar climate. Add to this glorious sunshine, the cooling effect of the vineyards at altitude in the foothills of the Andes and Argentina has the natural attributes to produce truly world class wines. Their image has suffered due to the mass produced cheap plonk featured in the supermarkets for the last few years. But be brave, take the plunge and try some of their top end wines. They are beautiful wines and represent superb value for money.
| Bodegas El Porvenir We are delighted to have discovered this superb multi award winning winery in our recent tastings. Bodegas El Porvenir de los Andes is a small, family owned and run winery which produces very limited quantities of stunning top quality wines. Their vineyards are located in the Cafayate Valley in the far north of Argentina, where the unique mesoclimate, combined with ideal soils, is suited to producing grapes of optimum quality. Add to this a state of the art winery and a commitment to excellence that only a small devoted producer can offer and the result is wines that can rival any in the worldPictured is Managing Director, Lucia Romero, no doubt enjoying her work!El Porvenir Website |
|
|
Eral Bravo
Eral Bravo is a new boutique winery from the Sanchez Nieto family, who founded and operated one of Argentina's most prestigious wineries which they ran for forty years - the Nieto Senetiner Winery. They subsequently sold it and opened Eral Bravo to concentrate on producing top quality wines. They now own 155 hectares of prime vineyards in Lujan de Cuyo and San Carlos, all at altitude of over 1000 metres and all suited to producing grapes of perfect ripeness with optimum colour, flavour and aroma. It's this combination of premium quality location and comparatively large vineyard size that provides them with plenty of top quality grapes permitting them to produce wines of such great quality in their Urano range at affordable prices. In the 'Eral Bravo' range their Malbec, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon are superb, with the Malbec recently scoring top marks in Decanter, and their flagship wine YBS is just sensational. Mattias is a great guy, with a dedication to crafting wines as an art, not purely as a commercial venture. His wines are as yet undiscovered in the UK so we're delighted to have the opportunity to promote them to our customers. Jane and I pride ourselves on selecting the best wines we can find, and for value for money we think his Urano range are unbeatble.All his reds are low in sulphites and Jane can drink them all with no reaction whatsoever - apart from a big smile as all the wines are delicious of course! Matias's Torrontes and Malbec Rose are also low sulphite although these are not available in the UK as yet but we're working on it! |
|
| Bodega BenegasThe El Trapiche vineyard was established by Tiburcio Benegas back in the late 1800s when he brought the first French vine stock to Argentina. He was Governor of Mendoza at the time, when he also borrowed five million pesos to establish the bank of Mendoza. From this financial base he set about expanding the vineyards with dams and irrigation, which led to the creation of the Mendoza wine industry, widely regarded as the best and most prestigious in all Argentina. Tiburcio's aim was to produce wine of the highest quality, and for this he returned to Bordeaux to source French oak casks and equipment, and to further his knowledge and bring back French oenologists with him. Tiburcio's sons continued expanding the Trapiche winery which was regarded as the best in Argentina for the first 70 years of the 20th century.The enterprise grew and was eventually split up and sold off. In 1998 Federico J Benegas Lynch resumed the family tradition of wine making at the 40 hectare Finca Libertad vineyard, the best of the family's original vineyards with the old French vine stock. He's restored the old winery building and is now making sensational wines to rival and surpass those of his father and grandfather.Federico and his lovely wife, Carmen, are driven by a passion to produce the best wine possible. Jane and I really hit it off with them as they recognised our passion for good wine, and our appreciation for the superb wines they're producing. Steven Spurrier is a big fan and Robert Parker has asked if he can come and see them, which is already a remarkable achievement. I highly recommend these wines. |
|
| Bodega San HubertoWe have two new superb wines from Bodega San Huberto in the La Rioja region recently arrived from Argentina. They are San Huberto's 'Ultra Premium Range' called 'Nina'. They are fantastic, in particular their Petit Verdot, which has to be tasted to be believed and there's also a lovely blended wine. They also make a Cabernet Malbec but it's sold out and the next vintage won't be ready for release till early next year. We are the only company importing these wines to the UK. |
|
| Bodegas Patricio GouguenheimThe Gougenheim winery is located in the Valle Escondido near Mendoza, in the foothills of the Andes mountains. The grapes come from their vineyards in the Tupungato area at 3600 feet above sea level, receiving 320 days of sunshine a year. As winter arrives late, these are perfect conditions for ensuring the grapes fully ripen. Patricio Gouguenheim took the time to explain to me how he keeps his production costs to a minimum, using French oak staves as opposed to actual barrels, producing top quality wines at a very affordable price. Recent tastings of his latest wines have encouraged us to take on more of his range as they are so good. They'll be arriving shortly. In the meantime both this Malbec and their Cab Sauv are highly recommended. Gouguenheim Website |
|
| Bodega NQN PatagoniaThis is a remarkable state of the art winery built into a hill at Neuquen, Patagonia, roughly in the centre of Argentina, on the western edge, in the foothills of the Andes bordering Chile. Their wines are excellent.NQN Website |
|
| Dominio del PlataDominio del Plata is a family-owned and run project of Susana Balbo (Enologist) and Pedro Marchevsky (Viticulturist). Susana's famous for her wines and spends September each year in a different country increasing her knowledge and experience. This is a new state of the art winery set up in 2001 producing some excellent wines, and managed sensitively with the focus on sustainable agriculture.Susana Balbo Website |
|
|
Tapiz
Tapiz is a fantastic state of the art winery producing superb wines at great value prices. They are dedicated to sustainable practises and have recently been certified GLOBAL G.A.P (a global partnership for Good Agricultural Practise). They have vineyards in Mendoza and also further afield even as far as Salta in the far north. If you're new to Argentine wine these are a great introduction, with plenty of really good quality, award winning wines.Tapiz Website |
|
| Mauricio LorcaMauricio is a highly respected winemaker in Argentina where, as well as being the chief winemaker at Enrique Foster, he is also consultant winemaker to a host of other wineries. He's now producing his own wines from his own high altitude vineyards in the Uco Valley in Mendoza. He's most famous for his use - or non use - of oak in his wines, to get the best results from each varietal, as he believes eachwine should reflect the terroir of it's particular vineyard, and the fruit should be evident. Master winemaker he may be, but I did bring up the subject of presentation with him recently in London as he's rather keen on a particular leaf design which did nothing to enhance the appearance of his bottles. He's a big chap and looks like he could play rugby for the Argentinian national rugby team so I didn't push it, but it appears he's reconsidered and is now thankfully presenting his new wines with a new design. Presentation aside, his wines are very good.Mauricio Lorca Website |
|
Testimonials
New to our Site?
Read what our customers think of us!.
Click Here >>
React To Wine?
Do, you get a bad reaction froom drinking wine? You may suffer from an intolerance to Sulphites.
Why Choose Us?
The Value of wine
Cheap wine is widely available. But what are you actually paying for?
