Laura Catena & Girl with a Glass Talk Wine Writing

Argentinean wine is a winner for casual drinkers, enthusiasts and experts.  It’s not difficult to find low-priced, excellent wines; it pairs well with meat and home-cooked traditional American food as well as other ethnic dishes; and when you seek out top-notch Argentine wine, it is inarguably world-class.

I started buying Argentine wine in 2002, during my 5-year course in wine and food pairing. Like many enthusiasts, I knew that  it was well-priced and that if I was going to buy Malbec, make sure it was Argentinean.  Looking back at my notes as a budding oenophile I wrote…competes with a cab, smooth long finish; rich, full, balanced; dry like a cab with flavor but not too fruity; just right, buy more.  The prices ranged from $5.99 (Bevmo 5-cent sale) to $38 for a bottle of Salentein Malbec (ordered at Boca, an Argentinean Steakhouse in my neighborhood).  Most Argentine bottles in my database are between $11 – $15.

If you are new to Argentine wine, my recommendation is to pick up a few bottles of Malbec.  If you’re looking for budget wine, get an inexpensive one and pick up a Reserve too.  The Reserve will introduce you to the winery’s idea of a slightly “better” wine–your palate is the ultimate decider of course.

If you are an enthusiast, Laura Catena authored a must-read book, Vino Argentino, An Insider’s Guide to the Wines and Wine Country of Argentina.  Belonging to the fourth-generation of an Argentinian-Italian winemaking family, Laura is a San Francisco emergency room doctor, a mother of three, and owner of her own wine brand, Luca. Her father is Nicolás Catena, a pioneer of modern winemaking in his country and owner of the acclaimed Bodega Catena Zapata label.

I love this book because it captures exactly the same information that I like to share about Sonoma/Napa–it’s truly an insider’s guide. Here’s a blurb about the book from the publisher, Chronicle Books:

Vino Argentino is an insider’s travelogue to the Argentine wine country. It is part viticultural primer, part cultural exploration, part introduction to the Argentine lifestyle. It is about the ascent of the mighty Malbec grape into the stratosphere of world-class wines. It is about single-lane roads lined with vineyards and patches of brush set against a breathtaking backdrop of snow-capped Andes peaks. It is about schoolchildren in white uniforms holding hands on dirt sidewalks, and gardens overflowing with flowers and fruit. In this book, I will take you exploring through the countryside of my childhood, so that you come to know its towns, vineyards, restaurants, and inns as intimately as I do.

Tags: Argentine, Bodega, Laura Catena, Malbec, wine