As an American with Italian roots, I was proud and happy to observe last weekend’s Columbus Day celebration. According to Wikipedia, the Italian diaspora to the United States totaled 5.5 million immigrants between the late 19th century and 2005, with most of them immigrating from the 1880’s until about 1920. I also assumed that more Italians immigrated to the US than to any other country, but that is not accurate. The nation with the most citizens of Italian descent is actually Argentina. So, it’s not surprising that Argentina has a vibrant wine industry, featuring a plethora of reds and whites.
What is surprising, though, is that the most prominent and heralded red in Argentina is Malbec—a grape mostly used as a blending component with other varieties. In Bordeaux, for example, it is sometimes combined with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, and petit verdot to compose the world-famous claret cuvée. Other countries, including our own, plant and produce the wine, but none with the success of Argentina. Today, we’ll examine Argentinean malbec, and I’ll provide a few recommendations along with foods that pair well with the wine, particularly beef where for more than a century legendary Argentinean cowboys (called “Gauchos of the Pampas”) literally invented roasting meat over wood fires.
Argentina is a very large country with the wine regions in the north on the same latitude as Morocco while the ones in the South are on a plane with New Zealand. The major grape-growing provinces are in the foothills of the Andes Mountains and are producing exciting wines. Surprisingly, the terroir here, characterized by an arid climate, poor soils, and irrigated mainly by snow melt, is ideal to produce excellent wine. Just like other fine wine regions of the world, wine grapes flourish when they are forced to struggle for water and nutrients in the soil, and in climates that are warm and dry. Most of Argentina’s grapes are grown at altitudes between 2000 and 3000 feet to take advantage of cooler temperatures.
The most prestigious wine province is Mendoza in the west-central part of the country on the border with Chile. Salta province in the north and the Rio Negro Valley in the south also produce wines, but most of the major wine production (80 percent) is in Mendoza. The main grape varieties in addition to malbec are chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, barbera, tempranillo, and bonarda. By the way, bonarda is an obscure varietal which has its roots (no pun intended) literally in Italy’s Piedmont region and was brought to Argentina by Italian immigrant wine makers.
But there is no doubt that when people think of wine from Argentina, they think of malbec because no other appellation in the world has been able to coax as much flavor, value and quality out of the varietal. I recently tasted several malbecs from Mendoza and here are a few for your consideration.
2024 Catena Malbec High Mountain Vines ($27) – This wine grown at more than 3000 feet is a medium to full bodied red wine with bright and juicy fruit flavors and with nuances of spice and oak. The wine would be an excellent accompaniment to ribeye steak grilled over a wood fire or charcoal.
2022 El Enemigo Malbec ($23) Deeply colored malbec with full throttle, yet approachable and balanced flavors of blackberry, chocolate and hints of vanilla, It’s balancing acidity would make this wine a great pairing partner to an Italian dish such as grilled beef braciole accompanied by pasta in a marinara sauce.
2024 Zuccardi Q Malbec ($26) – Deeply purple, this lovely, full-bodied, yet silky malbec has perfect structure with dark cherry flavors and plum notes. While it has aging potential, the wine would marry seamlessly with a marinated, herbs and vegetable-stuffed and then grilled flank steak.
John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book – Augie’s Wine –is now available to order online or at his website wordsbyjohnbrown.com. His first two books– Augie’s War and Augie’s World – are also available online and at bookstores around the state. The novels are also available as audiobooks. You can find out more about his novels, and review all his archived Vines & Vittles columns at wordsbyjohnbrown.com
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