Bit hard to visit THE wine region of South America - well Argentina at the very least - and not include a wee few comments on said beverage.
Of course it must be said that there are three very important points about the wine over here:
- It´s almost ALWAYS really good. I haven´t tasted one yet that made me think YUCK. Mind you I haven´t ventured into the 1 litre cardboard cask style wines that sell for around $1.50 Aus.
- It´s CHEAP! That is to say the starting price of wines (which are ALWAYS good) is around $5aus per bottle. Of course they go up to a whopping $20 and more - but what can I say... those bottles are delectable!
- You can buy wine (and any other booze) in the Supermarket. While this would come as no surprise to anyone who has ventured outside of our wonderful "police state" country - its still a wonderful novelty. Does make the grocery shopping quite heavy though :-)
WARNING: STUCK-UP-LARDEE-DAH-WINE-SNOB-SPEAK to follow.
Argentina´s big wine is Malbec. Yep - tends to be a variety they only use in blends back in Aus. Well up until recently anyway. But over here its the main variety and its damn nice. Softer than ye olde Shiraz but still complex enough to keep you guessing and hold its own to any hearty meal. Light on tannin and spice but plenty of berry and surprisingly quite a bit of tropical fruit. Dry finish. Okay - have I got anyone vommiting in disgust at my snooty wine-speak yet? Personally I´m lovin`it :-)
Shiraz over here is called "Syrah". Isn´t so common as the other reds. Also doesn´t pack as much of a punch as those from the Barrossa or M. River. Lacking in spice for the most part. But make up for that with a strange cinamon/ vanilla kinda undercurrent. Of course I´m speaking IN GENERAL - I haven´t tasted them all and theres PLENTY of variation between each vineyard etc.
The whites? Few and far between it would seem. We´ve come accross a smattering of Sav Blanc and Chardonnay - but even if you find it on a wine list - it won´t neccesarrily be available! The Sav blancs are nice and crisp but have tended towards a tad bland. Don´t have the same grass and herb complexities of the mighty Great South West wines. The Chardonnays on the other hand have been real classics. Got that whole buttery oak style going on! Yummm.
There´s a few DULCHE (sweet) varieties of white kicking about. I don´t think these guys rate white wines - I guess since they´re doing so well on the reds.....
The soils in most of the regions are actully quite rich in Sulphur - so guess what? They aren´t adding nearly as much of the stuff as what may happen elsewhere. Apparently.
So cross the border into Chile and they´re doing a pretty fine job of it too. Not as much Malbec but more Cab Sav. But in northern Chile the big thang is PISCO. Heard of (or tasted - you poor sod) grappa? Similar but not the same.
Is a SPIRIT made from grapes. They use the sweetest grapes they can. Often muscats and allow them maximum time on the vine to increase sugar content. The vines are also grown horizontally (along the tops of the support fence thingys) rather than vertically as in normal vineyards. This allows the grapes to sit higher on the vine which apparently also increases sugar content.
Why they want so much sugar? To increase the alcohol. Yup - these grapes are picked and DISTILLED. They get all the juice (and sugar) they possibly can out of the grape then go through the whole heating and cooling process to get an alcohol of around 75% !!!!!!!!!!! Naturally this isn´t the end product - illegal to sell things that potent folks. Makes ya blind. And a bit dead too. Didn´t stop us from tasting it though. (Check Ben´s face expression in the Velley Elqui album.... when its up)
The alcohol is then reduced - by adding water, bottled and served up. Usually at around 40% alcohol. Now whats it taste like? Well... alcohol actually. WE´re told - by our guide who seemed to be a tad obsessed with the process and product - that you can still tasted the fruit. His comment about the special pisco brewed at the place we visited was that it should be had SOLO!!! No water, now mixing in cocktailis NO ICE EVEN! Mad bastard.
Anway the nice thing about Pisco is that it does mix perfectly with lots of things to make really nice drinks. Eg - with mango juice and of course with LEMON (yum) sugar and egg white to make the mighty Pisco sours!!
Well thats it folks.
Our arduous wine (and other alcoholic beverages) research continues! Spare a thought for us with our hard life over here. And next time you´re in the bottle-oh.... grab an Argentinian red. (you may need to pay more than $5 though).
SALUD!
