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Kosher Kitchens -->
Kosher Wines --> Argentina Kosher Wines |
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 Arco
Nuevo Malbec 2009: Arco Nuevo Cabernet
Sauvignon 2009
Juicy berry fruit aromas lead into concentrated
flavors of raspberries and blackberries.
Well-balanced with firm
Click on to purchase
The Argentine wine
industry is the fifth leading producer of wine in
the world. Argentine wine, as with some aspects of
Argentine cuisine, has its roots in Spain. During
the Spanish colonization of the Americas, vine
cuttings were brought to Santiago del Estero in
1557, and the cultivation of the grape and wine
production stretched first to neighboring regions,
and then to other parts of the country.
Argentine wines
Historically, Argentine winemakers were
traditionally more interested in quantity than
quality with the country consuming 90% of the wine
it produces (12 gallons/45 liters a year per capita
according to 2006 figures). Until the early 1990s,
Argentina produced more wine than any other country
outside Europe, though the majority of it was
considered unexportable.[2] However, the desire to
increase exports fueled significant advances in
quality. Argentine wines started being exported
during the 1990s, and are currently growing in
popularity, making it now the second biggest wine
exporter in Latinamerica behind Chile. The
devaluation of the Argentine peso in 2002, following
the economic collapse, further fueled the industry
as production costs decreased and tourism
significantly increased, giving way to a whole new
concept of wine tourism in Argentina. The past years
have seen the birth of numerous tourist-friendly
wineries with free tours and tastings. The Mendoza
Province is now one of Argentina's top tourist
destinations and the one which has grown the most in
the past years.
The most important wine regions of the country are
located in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan and
La Rioja. Salta, Catamarca, Río Negro and more
recently Southern Buenos Aires are also wine
producing regions. The Mendoza province produces
more than 60% of the Argentine wine and is the
source of an even higher percentage of the total
exports. Due to the high altitude and low humidity
of the main wine producing regions, Argentine
vineyards rarely face the problems of insects,
fungi, molds and other grape diseases that affect
vineyards in other countries. This permits
cultivating with little or no pesticides, allowing
even organic wines to be easily produced.
There are many different varieties of grapes
cultivated in Argentina, reflecting her many
immigrant groups. The French brought Auxerrois,
which became known as Malbec, which makes most of
Argentina's best known wines. The Italians brought
vines that they called Bonarda, although Argentine
Bonarda appears to be the Corbeau of Savoie, also
known as Charbono in California, which may be
related to Dolcetto. |
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| It has nothing in
common with the light fruity wines made from Bonarda Piemontese
in Piedmont. Torrontés is another typically Argentine grape and
is mostly found in the provinces of La Rioja, San Juan, and
Salta. It is a member of the Malvasia group that makes aromatic
white wines. It has recently been grown in Spain. Cabernet
Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay and other international varieties
are becoming more widely planted, but some varieties are
cultivated characteristically in certain areas.
History
Viticulture was introduced to Argentina during the Spanish
colonization of the Americas and later again by Christian
missionaries. In 1541, Vitis vinifera vines were brought from
Spain and planted along the Río de la Plata by the Atlantic
coast (near what is now Buenos Aires. The vines did not thrive
in the humid subtropical climate of the region and viticultural
activity in the area was eventually abandoned. In 1542, dried
grape seeds taken from vines in Peru were planted near what is
now the Salta Province east of the Andes. Eight years later
another expedition from Peru brought vine cuttings. In 1556,
cuttings from the Chilean Central Valley were brought to what is
now the San Juan and Mendoza wine region which firmly
established viticulture in Argentina. Ampelographers suspect
that one of these cuttings brought the ancestor grape of the
Chile's Pais and California's Mission grape. This grape was the
forerunner of the Criolla Chica variety that would be the
backbone of the Argentine wine industry for the next 300 years.
The first recorded commercial vineyard was established at
Santiago del Estero in 1557 by Jesuit missionaries which was
followed by expansion of vineyard plantings in Mendoza in the
early 1560s and San Juan between 1569 and 1589. During this time
the missionaries and settlers in the area began construction of
complex irrigation channels and dams that would bring water down
from the melting glaciers of the Andes to sustain vineyards and
agriculture.[6] While a provincial governor, Domingo Faustino
Sarmiento, instructed the French agronomist Miguel Aimé Pouget
to bring grapevine cutting from France to Argentina. Of the
vines that Pouget brought were the very first Malbec vines to be
planted in country. As the infantile Argentine wine industry
became centralized in the western part of country among the
foothills of the mountains, the population centers of the
country developed in the east. Transporting wine by means of a
long wagon journey put a crimp in the growth of the wine
industry that would not be eased till the 1885 completion of the
Argentine railway that connected the city of Mendoza to Buenos
Aires. Don Tiburcio Benegas, governor of the province of Mendoza
and owner of El Trapiche wine estate, was instrumental in
financing and pushing through the construction, convinced that
in order for the Argentine wine industry to survive it needed a
market. The 19th century also saw the first wave of immigrants
from Europe. Many of these immigrants were escaping the scourge
of the phylloxera epidemic that ravaged vineyards in their
homeland and they brought with them their expertise and
winemaking knowledge to their new home. |
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