Argentinian Wine Tasting at The Wine Store

James Morrison convened another tasting at the Wine Store in Westerly. This time it was wines from Argentina. There were 4 wines being showcased including Crios Torrontes, La Posta Tinto, Tikal Patriota and Luca. Vic Zelinsky was there to transport us to Mendoza, Argentina, a place he described as being like a New World Babylon Garden.

The first wine served was the Crios Torrontes, a white wine. The nose was powerfully aromatic and the wine was crisp and delicious. I wanted to know more about the Torrontes grape so I turned to the 3 J's (I read it on some one's blog, Jancis, Julia and José) new book, Wines Grapes. I learned that there are three Torrontes grapes in Argentina. Torrontes Riojano is the most important, followed by the two lesser known Torrontes Mendocino and Torrontes Sanjuanino. Through DNA analysis, it has been shown that Torrontes Riojano and Torrontes Sanjuanino is a cross between Muscat of Alexandria and Listan Prieto and that Torrontes Mendocino is descended from Muscat of Alexandria and an unidentified variety. All three grapes belong to the Criolla group.
The second wine that was poured was the 2010 La Posta Cocina Tinto, a blend of 60% Malbec, 20% Syrah and 20% Bonarda. Vic explained that the wine was made from grapes from various vineyards and that label refers to the fact that the growers met at a tavern (La Posta) to discuss all things wine. We next tried the Tikal Patriota 2011, a blend of malbec and bonarda. I knew that malbec is the red wine of Argentina but I had no idea what bonarda was. Vic mentioned that it came from the Piedmont region of Italy. I thought that it had the deep inkiness of a Barbera (too much Barbera on the mind!) I looked up bonarda in Wines Grapes and found the following information: Bornarda Piemontese is often confused with Douce Noire, known as Bonarda in Argentina. In the U.S., Bonarda is also known as Charbono! DNA analysis showed that the origin of the Argentinian Bonarda is most likely Savoie, located in eastern France. The last wine that we tasted was a Luca made from 100% Malbec. We always enjoy going to James' wine tastings, it's a nice way to taste different wines and meet like minded people.
References:
1. J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours.