Thursday, September 18, 2008

Torrontes

Malbec has long been the big, bold, fruity, and delish wine of South America's sleeping giant, Argentina. It is in your face, unapologetic and pairs well with lots of things--not surprisingly, Argentina's Pampas raised beef. But there is a another great wine being made in Argentina. Okay, actually two. Bonardo--we will discuss later. Today, my wine loving friends, is all about the white prince.

Torrontes is a white wine thought to be connected to the Malvasia grape group. Probably brought over by Spaniards like a lot of other delicious food and drink. Oddly enough, in Chile it is used to make Pisco. Other than that, it is pretty distinctively Argentine.

Torrontes is somewhat similar to to Viognier in that it is aromatic, somewhat floral, and a bit fruity-sweet with a nice acidic finish. While I can enjoy Torrontes on it's own, it also is pretty delish with Thai food, smoky meats, and grilled veg. In fact, tonight we enjoyed a bottle of moderately-priced bottle with some grilled veg, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, and tingly chimichurri.

One of my favorite things about Argentine wine is the wicked great price. You can enjoy a $15- $20 bottle that rivals a French or California bottle at three times the price, or a Spanish or Italian bottle at two times the price.

If you are looking for a fun, new white to bring to a "end of summer" party, you gotta wow your friends with some Torrontes.

1 comment:

Wine Girl said...

Love that you blogged on this - malbec, bonarda and torrontes are my big faves right now and SUCH an incredible value!!!

Chile and Argentina produce award-winning wines that rival Old World wines at half the price because land, labor and transportation cost less. I have an Argentinian coworker at Wells Fargo who is visiting Des Moines this week - we are actually meeting to talk about this!

Read the notes and recipes for Cielo Torrontes and Ignis Malbec and Bonarda Reserva at www.myttv.com/pamela12616 (click Shop Our Cellar and sort by region). YUM!!!