Aspiring Argentines

WINE TALK
1

Aspiring Argentines

Tried two, one top bottling and one mid-range, from mid-sized Bodegas:
One expensive miss, one bargain-priced hit

2018 Proemio Barrel Selection – Deep color. The aromas are powerful but simple, with oak and black fruit. The palate is powerful but disjointed, the oak sticks way out, the tannins are abundant but pretty coarse, there’s not much acidity. This is drinkable, but doesn’t offer much pleasure. Rated 83, I don’t think it will ever knit.

2019 Finca El Origen ‘Andes Blend’ – Similar color. The aromas are a little less intense but more interesting. Black fruit is in front, there are herbs, a touch of iron, a faint note of oak. The palate is moderately rich, very nicely balanced, the herbs include a hint of mint, this lacks the intensity of great wine but is a subtle, well-balanced pleasure. Rated 90, probably at a peak it will hold for at least 3 years.

The first wine sells for fifty bucks, the second for fifteen. Go figure.

2

After living down there for the better part of the last five years I found the sweet spot to be somewhere in the $12-35* range. Lower could still get a very nice bottle but they tended to be on the simple side. There were some good ones around $75-100 but more often than not spending more than $35 just got more concentration but not more enjoyment or complexity.

*I was fortunate to be there at a time when the USD had immense buying power so prices would have been a little higher for the same wines in the US at that time. This year has seen a dramatic turnaround in that. Although there is some sort of gov. incentive (tax break) provided for wine export, I think there is a lag in the system for wines that are already here in the US. For the moment, Argentine wines in the US are largely less expensive than they are in AR.