High Altitude Wines of Argentina

It was a wild week of tasting here in the wine-soaked city of Vincouver, where Chilean and Argentine vintners breezed in with their carmenéres and their malbecs, and left us with copius tasting notes and mouthfuls of stained teeth. Aye, chihuahua, el vinos es magnifico!

Compared to skinny Chile, which enjoys a strong oceanic effect that moderates the climate and a typography of hills and valleys with rivers running to the Pacific, Argentina is a vast, dry desert. Vineyards hug the east face of the Andes for its water runoff as well as for the cooler climate elevation.

In a VIP tasting with Pablo Cuneo, winemaker at Ruca Malen, the operative word I heard was "Altitude." Altitude is a major factor in how the Argentines plan their vine planting because altitude is what defines microclimates. Between 450 and 1600 meters above sea level seems to be the sweet spot. To find the cooler climates, Cuneo said, “We have to play with altitude.”

With a renewed attitude for altitude, I plunged into tasting the country’s star red grape: Malbec.

Grapes for the Kaiken 2006 Ultra Malbec are grown in the Uco Valley near Mendoza at 1,000 meters abouve sea level. The result is a powerful and appealing wine with excellent structure and balance. A perfumed, meaty nose leads to a big mouthful of black fruit accented with sweet oak and easy tannins, and a long fruity finish.

The Susana Balbo 2007 Malbec has an enticing nose of baked, warm red fruit and the palete is plush, ripe and satisfyingly well-balanced. I just hope it becomes available in BC – and soon.

For now, her Crios Label will suffice to satisfy, as it always does. The Crios 2008 Malbec has lovely aromatics showing spicy black cherry and smoke, and the palate has layers of concentrated plum and black fruit. It’s been a fave of mine for years.

If that is too heavy for the moment, the Crios 2008 Rosé of Malbec makes a nice aperitif or accompaniment to fish or white meats. The colour is as dark as I’ve ever seen in a rosé and it has a surprisingly rich body. Its nose and palate are full of ripe strawberries and cherries and the finish is clean and refreshing.

But Argentina is not just about Malbec. The Finca Las Moras 2005 Gran Shiraz Three Valleys of San Juan impressed me with its fragrances of ripe black cherry, spice and leather, its soft mouthfull of black and purple fruit, and long peppery finish.

I thought it was an awesome syrah, a sentiment shared by Everything Wine staffer, Ivan Alphonso, who added, "With all these great wines, why did I leave Argentina?"

Did you attend the Argentina or Chile tastings? What were your favourites and why?