The Wines of Argentina

No photo - Sorry! I was too busy enjoying the wines and Suzanne Goin's food..

What a day! I drove to Hatfield's here in LA for a 12pm lunch about Argentinian wines with Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein. I walked in and asked to be directed to the lunch, but the host had no idea what I was talking about. I promptly recalled that I was slated to have lunch at Hatfield's with Evan next week and discovered that I was in the completely wrong restaurant. I've been confusing the location of these two lunches for a week now. Naturally, I should do so on the day I arrive there. Hopefully, you've never done this. So, after donning my red cape (stained with wine, of course), I flew over to Lucques where the lunch was actually occuring.

We opened the gates on the wines with a Graffigna Centenario Pinot Grigio 2009 from San Juan. Very typical flavors of PG: Orange, peach, red apple, hint of banana and almond skin. Quite delicious and a far cry from the watered-down schlock that we have come to find massly-produced from Italy. I'm actually considering pouring it by the glass at Jar for awhile. Cool to find a delicious Argentinian Pinot Grigio!

For the first course, we enjoyed a wonderful summer dish of Local Apricots and Avocados with Arugula and Pistachio Alliade. Totally fit the outdoor patio/summer/European mood! To pair: a duo of Torrontes from Maipe and Tamari, and Valentin Bianchi's Chardonnay. I was highly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Chard with the dish. The weight of the Chardonnay with the avocado and apricot totally worked - and the baked pear/pineapple added a whole new wonderful dimension to the dish that just gelled for me. And I'm not a HUGE Torontes fan in the first place, so not a surprise they weren't my favorite pairing.

Second course: Romesco-grilled Chicken with Crispy Potatoes, Chorizo and Membrillo. To pair: 1) Bodegas del Fin del Mundo Pinot Noir 2) Xumek Syrah 3) Alamos Seleccion Malbec 4) Alto las Hormigas 'Colonia Las Liebres' Bonarda. All of the wines played in interesting wines against the dish, which was VERY rich. On its own , I wasn't taken with the Pinot - I don't think it had much focus on what it wanted to be. Not exciting with the dish, really, either. The Syrah was delicious, with high-toned raspberry and blueberry, meatiness and pepper - totally fit with the chorizo in a way that didn't accentuate the heaviness (my personal pick as best pairing). The Malbec was tasty, but nothing special: it offered more complexity and interest on the nose than the palate really delivered. The Bonarda was a cool find! Delicious and rustic. Perfect for a stew or slow-cooked meat. Very rustic, but ripe. Like a Languedoc red on steroids. AND - DIRT CHEAP!!!

Third course: Braised Beef Short Ribs with Baked Ricotta, Dandelion and ChimiChurri. To pair: 1) Rutini Malbec 2) Benegas Estate Malbec 3) Luigi Bosca 'Icono' 4) Kaiken Ultra Cabernet Sauvignon. Here was the real "bruiser flight" of big dogs. The Rutini was wonderful - just the style of Malbec that I really enjoy drinking: boysenberry jam and violets, but well controlled and not over-the-top. Chalky tannins that come across as cocoa, complicated by anise, black tea and fresh herbs. More importantly, it feels so wonderfully fresh, but still has body and structure. Benegas Lynch Malbec was a little more heavy-handed and lacked the balance that I like. The 'Icono' was an example of what Argentina should not be doing. At $150 a bottle, it was so overly oaked with American Oak that one could barely taste the fruit they spent so much time growing. I could sell it to Silver Oak fans, but at twice the price, would they thank me or hate me for it? The Kaiken was also good, in the straight-forward way the Cabernet Sauvignon often is. No surprises here. The dish actually made this a much better wine.

So, long story short - Argentina's real forte is its value wines. It might take a little searching to find the ones you really like, but there are very few regions in the world where I would be comfortable spending under $15 without having tasted what's in the bottle first. This is one of those regions. The commitment to try it is so little that part of the fun is the pleasant surprise of quality.