Spring is finally here! Even in New England (which is where I am at the moment). Some wines just scream SPRING to me and one of those is the emblematic Argentine grape; Torrontes. Just like it's signature black grape cousin; Malbec, I am seeing Torrontes more and more on menus and I am seeing it represented more and more in wine stores. This is a good thing! It certianly gives us an alternative to Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc and encourages us to be keep our palates open to aromatic varietals like Albarino, Gewurtztraminer and Viognier. 
There are many good examples of Torrontes out there in the market today - most ranging from 10-20 dollars. I am focusing on two today; The Yellow and Blue Torrontes $13 (1 liter tetrapack ie, boxed wine) and the Sparkling Torrontes Deseado Saurus from Familia Schroeder in Patagonia $35. Some say that Torrontes is an indigenous varitetal to Argentina, but most sources I could find (including the website) say that it is from Spain and in the Muscat and/or Albarino family. However, Torrontes is fairly exclusive to Argentina and it is a very drinkable and very aromatic grape.
I used to thumb my nose at boxed wines - and still do at Franzia... sorry! However, there are tons and tons of very good "bag-in-a-box" wine and tetra-packed wine. Yellow+Blue is a great example of innovative marketing married with good drinkable wine. Bottles are heavy to ship and the heavier the load; the more expensive the bill. If the winery can cut back on some of that weight (ie, the bottle weight) then the savings go to the consumer and back to the winery. Oh, and you get a liter of wine instead of the normal 750ml. I should have mentioned that first.... YOU GET MORE WINE!!!
The name... Yellow and Blue....what does that make? That's right, children: GREEN!!! Of all the gimmicks out there - I completely buy into this one. This is wine made from biodynamic (ie, super-organic) grapes served in biodegradable packaging, and it tastes pretty good, too. The Yellow+Blue Torrontes is very true to it's varietal. Very delicate and aromatic. Beautiful floral notes with tinned peach and mandarin orange aromas. It's dry on the palate thankfully and still that orange water and apricot carries through.
From this boxed wine we move onto another suprising representation of this grape; this time a bubbly version. I encountered the Deseado Saurus Sparkling Torrontes at a trade show on Cape Cod. My Massachusetts distributor; Arborway represents it. I, true to form, was sampling others' wares and fell in love at first sip. Firstly, I'd not been aware of sparkling Torrontes. B, it was a little sweet. In conclusion, I was smitten!
This wine is a boutique family owned winery in the Patagonia area of southern Argentina. They grow the grapes organically. They hand harvest all of the grapes. They are amazing. What does Deseado mean? That's the name of the river that flows through the region. And Saurus... well that's for the dinosaur bones they excavated when they were building the winery. Uh huh! Just gives you an idea of the age of that terroir!
The sparkling Torrontes is light, it's done in the traditional Champagne method (charmant) so the bubbles are relativly small. There is a cleaness and brightness to the wine. There is a touch of sweetness. It's not as cloying as a moscato d'asti, but it has that same fragrance of orange blossom and sweet limeade. I thought it was gorgeous.
This wine is a boutique family owned winery in the Patagonia area of southern Argentina. They grow the grapes organically. They hand harvest all of the grapes. They are amazing. What does Deseado mean? That's the name of the river that flows through the region. And Saurus... well that's for the dinosaur bones they excavated when they were building the winery. Uh huh! Just gives you an idea of the age of that terroir!
The sparkling Torrontes is light, it's done in the traditional Champagne method (charmant) so the bubbles are relativly small. There is a cleaness and brightness to the wine. There is a touch of sweetness. It's not as cloying as a moscato d'asti, but it has that same fragrance of orange blossom and sweet limeade. I thought it was gorgeous.
1 comment:
The torrontes is one of the proudest productions from Argentina. I have been in Mendoza and San Juan and I have tasted a lot of wines there. Great wines, a lot of them are just to be exported. So I baught a few and I forgot them in one of the apartments in buenos aires where I have stayed.
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