Gaucho marks

IF YOU think that the only wines Argentina can produce are stiffly tannic reds from Mendoza, or a few bargain whites for the supermarket shelves, then think again. As the saying goes, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Argentina, the world's fourth-largest wine-producing country, has only recently started exporting large volumes of wine, but it has already stormed the UK's off-trade. A serious impact on restaurant wine lists can only be a matter of time.

Traditionally, the country made jug-standard plonk from easy-to-grow grapes such as Criolla and Palomino, for a thirsty domestic market that lapped up 90 litres a head per year in the 1970s. Today, the Argentinians are turning towards premium varietals rather than bulk wine, and are looking overseas for a piece of the action.

Wineries have enlisted the help of Californians such as Paul Hobbs and Ed Flaherty, and Bordeaux's Michel Rolland, among others, has also worked in the Mendoza region as a consultant. The message is clear: another serious player has arrived on the world wine scene.

Argentina's wine industry centres on Mendoza, close to the snow-capped Andes mountains. Around Mendoza are arid, sandy-soiled wastelands that receive just 250mm of rainfall a year. Yet Mendoza town itself is green and leafy, with huge trees towering above the streets and spacious squares.

The secret, of course, is an ancient and complex system of irrigation. Mendoza town is scored through with irrigation channels, while in the vineyards and fruit orchards around it, snow-melt from the mountains is pumped into the soil. Modern drip irrigation has been slow to arrive and vineyards are mostly flood irrigated - each row receives a huge rush of water every few days into troughs alongside the vines.

Apart from its aridity, and violent hailstorms that require vines to be netted over in certain districts, Mendoza has a lot going for it. There's intense, bright sunshine, low humidity, very little disease, and cooling breezes on the higher vineyard plots. And the temperatures in prized areas such as Tupungato, at the foot of the Andes, are hot by day but, crucially, much cooler at night, leading to ripe flavours and crisp levels of acidity.

The result? Intensely fruity premium wines made from Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet. And Argentina's two signature grapes, Torrontés and Malbec, are catching on internationally.

Torrontés produces aromatic whites with a spicy edge, and is increasingly grown in cool, high-altitude areas such as Salta to the north of Mendoza. There are drawbacks with Torrontés, however. As Pedro Luis Marchevsky, vineyard director at Bodegas Esmeralda, says: "Torrontés can lift a white blend, but you must drink it while it's young. Bitterness can be a problem - that and a lack of fruitiness."

Malbec is altogether more serious. At tastings in Mendoza last November, Malbec was the ace in Argentina's pack - an inky purple lip-stainer packed with sweetly ripe flavours of black cherry, cassis and liquorice, yet velvet smooth.

Its history has been chequered. "In the 1970s, there were 50,000ha of Malbec in Mendoza. Now there are just 9,000. We lost 40,000 tonnes of this fine grape because in the 1980s there was a huge boom in white wines. The price of the white grapes was so high that many pulled out their Malbec and planted second-rate grapes like Criolla, or built houses on the land," says Marchevsky.

That was a serious blow, but now all of Argentina's go-ahead wineries (see panel) are giving Malbec the push it deserves. The venerable winery Weinert has an array of aged Malbecs, revealing how well the variety matures. Its 1977 still had an impressive amount of lush berry, fig and leather character, like a battered old satchel bursting with squashy ripe fruit.

Alberto Arizu of Luigi Bosca explains: "Malbec ages well because its tannins are deceptively smooth and supple but nonetheless big, giving it a firm structure." Add to this the fact that it makes wines of high alcoholic strength and you've got a long-lived red on your hands.

Malbec also has a subtle sweetness. "There's a saying in Spanish that Malbec has a sweet core," says Arizu. And not only does Malbec partner a classic Argentinian steak to perfection, but it also goes well with rich stews.

Blends of Malbec with Cabernet, Merlot or Syrah can also impress. As single varietal wines, Syrah can be splendidly rich and toffee-edged, while Merlot yields lush plum flavours from several Mendoza wineries.

White wine from Argentina is not as exciting as red, though, and even top Chardonnays are international in style, lacking the reds' distinctive character.

That said, the sheer quality of Chardonnay is high, and the best of the bunch (Vistalba, Norton, La Rural, Esmeralda, Flichman, Trapiche, Navarro Correas) are superb. The country's top Chardonnay comes from the Bodegas Esmeralda operation, owned by one of Argentina's prime movers, Dr Nicolas Catena. His right-hand man, Marchevsky, produced an impressive line-up of barrel samples showcasing different Chardonnay growing districts.

Some of the best fruit comes from the cool and much-sought-after Tupungato vineyards, just 20km from the foot of the imposing Mount Tupungato. But the best Chardonnay grapes of all are blended to go into Alta, a new premium wine from the Catena team at Esmeralda which costs £20 a bottle in the UK. It's an extraordinary and beautifully packaged wine, plump with tropical fruit, vanilla fudge and fine oak spice. It certainly leaves one in no doubt that Argentina can produce world-beating wine.

But will the country's wine producers settle for a purely New World image? Jose Alberto Zuccardi, director of La Agricola, believes not. He says: "We are not entirely New World - not as much as, say, Chile - because we have a French grape, Malbec, at the core of our wine-making, and we have strong Italian and Spanish connections too."

Certainly, Argentina's wine industry would be making a sad mistake if it underplayed its strengths and underpriced its wines, becoming the bargain basement of the New World. As Marchevsky says: "We now have in our hands so many possibilities, so many changes to make."

Arizu sounds a warning note: "The big question now is, who is in charge? The international market or the wineries? It will be the personal styles coming from the wineries that count." Let's hope they win through. n