Many wine drinkers in the UK will have had their first Argentinian close-encounter with this Award winning wine...
Argento, Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina 2010
Since its formation in 1998 Argento has been Argentina’s most visible ambassador. Many wine drinkers in the UK must have had their Argentinian first close-encounter with Argento; owned by Bodegas Esmeralda of Argentina and Bibendum UK’s wine company. In the last decade Argento has evolved to become a reliable context provider for Argentine wines. They produce balanced wines with forward fruit expression that are sensitively priced.
They understand something crucial about Argentine culture: that wine is part of the family’s table. Their campaign “The Real Argentina” is an admirable piece of work worthy of a generic campaign. And this Bonarda could only be from Argentina. “Bonarda is the symbol of the East region of Mendoza,” explains Silvia Corti, Argento’s winemaker. “To produce great Bonardas we need to select grapes from low yielding vineyards”. They source theirs from an 80 years-old vineyard in the cooler area of the Rivadavia region.
When making this wine her objective is to achieve the great aromatic richness of the Bonarda, its excellent concentration and sweetness in the mouth. The wine is aged for three months in American oak to add richness. 2010 was a mild summer allowing the grapes to ripen slowly producing a wine sweet tannins and moderate alcohol. This Bonarda is exiting, juicy and with an incredibly sexy purity of fruit, those old vines deserve applause.
Written by Marina Gayan MW
