Sherbrooke Sips with R&R: Argentina
Winery: Silvertop
Vintage: 2008
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Alcohol: 13.5%
Blend: 100% Malbec
Tasting: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Map courtesy of mendosaholidays.com
We will be heading to Chile next week. Our flight landed in Mendoza on the way and we noticed some vineyards nearby the airport, so we thought we would stop and take a look.
Okay… raise your hands… who hasn’t heard of Argentinean Malbec? It certainly has come on our wine scene with great vigor over the past couple of years. Now there are a lot of wineries from Argentina, but the vast majority of wines come from the Mendoza region. I believe the number is about 75 - 80%, actually.
The history of the country is fascinating. Of course its connection with Spain goes back many hundreds of years. The Monks started developing the vineyards in Argentina back in the 1500’s. This year, Argentina will be celebrating their 200th Anniversary of Independence from Spain. Now the Spanish culture still plays a large part in this country. You will notice, for instance, that a lot of winery names being with ‘Bodegas’, which is ‘winery’ or ‘house of’. Today some of the red wines being produced in Argentina include: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Bonarda and Sangiovese. White wines include: Torrontes, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon, Semillon, Riesling, Viognier and Gewürztraminer.
Let’s get on to this wine. What the heck is Malbec anyway? Well, the Malbec grape came from France originally, but there is not a lot left to be found in the country. There are some areas where it can still be found. The most notable area is located in the south west of France. The region is called Cahors. Recently there have been some wines from this region that have come back into the spotlight. Why? Well, because Malbec has been getting a lot of press from Argentina and Malbec is big in Cahors. It follows that Cahors will be garnering a bit of the limelight, as well. And as Martha says… that is a good thing.
Now at $10.99, you know that this is not going to be a big powerhouse Malbec, but what you will notice are the great red berry flavours, red plum, cherry and even a little bit of tobacco that you get on this wine. In your mouth there are those red fruits like raspberry and cherry with that touch of the red plum again. It has a nice bit of fruit, but not in a sweet way, just some nice fruit. When I tried this wine for the first time about 1½ to 2 years ago, I was surprised that there was so much flavour for the price. It was a nice surprise indeed. This makes a great ‘sit back, put your feet up and relax kind of wine’. Argentinean wines are such a good value. They are so worth trying.
Food Pairing:
Beef… Beef… and more beef! Did I say ‘beef’? Barbequed lamb; pizza with chorizo sausages; chili.
CSPC: 734702
Price:
$10.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)
*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice
Winery: Silvertop
Vintage: 2009
Location: Mendoza, Argentina
Alcohol: 13%
Blend: 100% Torrontes
Tasting: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Torrontes grapes make the quintessential white wine from Argentina. Although it makes up about 10% of white grapes planted in Argentina, it accounts for about 20% of the sales. Interesting! Now until recently, it was thought this grape variety was indigenous to Argentina, but recent DNA testing has found that, in fact, the grape has roots in the Eastern Mediterrean region. Which, when you think about it makes sense. Most of the grape vines in the New World regions were most likely brought over by explorers from the ‘Old World’ during their travels. Simplistically, they wanted to bring a little bit of home with them so that they could make their own wine for celebrations and the like.
This wine has such flavourful aromas. You get anything from orange/citrus and some flowers to peaches/peach pit. Now although you get all these notes, the wine is dry. It kind of fools you when you get all those wonderful aromas. This is a wine to enjoy when it is young.
Food Pairing:
Asian food, especially Thai and Vietnamese; guacamole; Mexican food; clam chowder with a wee touch of spice.
CSPC: 734704
Price:
$11.99 (Minus Winesday 10% discount.)
*Price correct at time of printing. Price subject to change without notice
I have some very exciting news for you!!! We will be doing an ‘Earth Day’ weekend tasting this weekend. Friday, April 23rd from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 24th from 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. We will be tasting Organic and Biodynamic Wines. Come by and join us.
Next week Richard and I are going to hop on that flight and head over the Andes Mountains to Chile. See you there!