Wines of South America

[Astrobloke]

Hi all,

In April I'll be taking a two month holiday to South America which will take in two emerging wine producing countries, Argentina and Chile. While there I'll naturally want to check out the local wine regions and wondered if anyone here can give me any advice ?

I believe Argentina is well known for it's Malbec and Chile for it's Merlot. Does anyone here have any experience with these wines ? The Merlots hold quite an appeal as it's something that Australia does not do well. Are the any specific wineries that I should check out while I'm there ?

Thanks in advance.

[JDSJDS]

The main area in Argentina is Mendoza, and yes this is dominated by malbec, with cabernet and Bordeaux blends as well. Chile has many more regions, often at a considerable distance from each other (north and south). The new regions are typically cooler climates, so can have great whites and pinot. But the main areas (e.g., Maipo) are quite near the capital city of Santiago, and focus on Bordeaux varieties; Cabernet is still king here, but there's certainly Merlot as well as the signature grape of Chile, Carmenere. Some wineries in Maipo are within the city limits. There are tons of wineries, but some of the top wineries include Concha y Toro, Santa Rita, Casa Lapostelle, Carmen, and Errazuriz. But these are all big wineries too, which might not be your focus.

[paulf]

I've been to a few wineries in both countries. The good stuff can be very good indeed and the bad can be absolutely terrible. It's been about 5 years since I was there, but Chile seemed to be more advanced in terms of techniques and equipment.
I went to Concha y Toro and and Cousino Macul in the Maipo valley, and Montes and Viu Manent in the Colchagua valley. The best wine I got to try was Almaviva which is a project between Concha y Toro and Baron Phillipe de Rothschild, which I was told was an attempt to make a Grand Cru standard wine in Chile. It's a Bordeaux blend.
As JDSJDS has mentioned, Cabernet has probably been the most successful variety in Chile, and when I was there they were really pushing the Carmenere, which had been rediscovered in Chile after it was thought to be extinct in France. It has been mistaken for merlot for a long time and had only been correctly identified in the 90s. You'll find a range of other wines in Chile - as it is new world, they are still experimenting with all sorts of things. I don't remember being terribly exited by the whites - there seemed to be a lot of Sav Blanc an Chardonay. i've had the Santa Rita Cabernet which is good and I have a few bottles of Perez Cruz Camenere at home.
I also went to Mendoza in Argentina on the same trip. A as Mentioned Malbec is the thing there, I only went to a couple of wineries there and the only one I remember being good was Lagarde. I do remember drinking good wines from Luigi Bosca and Phillipe Rutini while I was there as well as the Terrazas which I've been able to get in Australia as well. Keep an eye out for the Torrontés in Argentina too, its a Argentinian white grape that I thought was worth a look. i think most of it is grown more to the north of Argentina around Salta.
The other great thing about Argentina is the Steak, which goes very nicely with a good Malbec.

[bob parsons]

Some info for you here, courtesy of a search on the UK forum. I should add that a visit to Achaval-Ferrer, Mendoza, should be a must visit!

http://www.wine-pages.com/cgi-bin2/ulti ... 067#000000

http://www.wine-pages.com/ubb/ultimateb ... 037#000017

[Thommo]

Hi Astrobloke,

As said before, Chilean wine can be pretty hit and miss, at all ends of the price spectrum. In very broad terms, it tends to be a bit sweet and simple, with the price point corelating with the weight of the wine, but not necessaily the complexity. While I was over there I drank mainly Carmenere, as it is so uncommon in australia. Some generally wineries that produced more interesting examples of the variety were Perez Cruz, Casa Silva, Caliterra.
El Mundo del Vino in Las Condes, Santiago has a very big selection of premium wines, and there are some nice smaller quality wine shops in the massive Parque Aracau Mall.

[Astrobloke]

Awesome recommendations guys. Although I've not made it to the wine making regions of Argentina I have enjoyeded many loads of wine during my stay so far. Highlights so far are a Luigi Bosca reserve Malbec and a Terrazas Malbec. Looking forward to trying some of your Chilean suggestions.

Thank you for your input

[paulf]

Glad to hear you are enjoying it.
I was at San Telmo Restaurant in Melbourne on Saturday night and enjoyed the 2009 Lagarde malbec and the 2009 Michel Torino '"Don David" Tannat from Salta. While the Lagarde was the pick, the Don David was nice too.