Hand Picked Selections in Argentina

Several years ago Argentina went through a major economic crisis. The Peso, which had been pegged to the dollar, crashed to 25 cents and the economy shrank by 20% in two years. Despite this, Argentina is far closer to First World than Third World status. Recovery is under way. The old and prosperous wine industry is strong and very confident of its place in the global economy.

This industry is enormous. Production is fifth in the world after Italy, France, Spain and the U.S. The Argentines also drink a lot of wine. Total consumption is sixth in the world – after the higher producing countries and Germany. Per capita, each Argentine drinks 40 litres a year, 5 times more than each American and about 2/3 as much as each Frenchman and Italian.

There are a number of big producers who dominate the export business. The largest producers have the money and technology to produce completely clean, modern wines. However these can be rather expensive and/or too ‘international’ – bland commodities lacking character. Smaller bodegas are usually of more interest, but can have different problems. Some have old equipment making unsound wines, others wines too far out of the mainstream. A look at vineyard acreage indicates the latter problem. The top five varietals, in order of acreage, are Cereza, Pedro Jimenez, Malbec, Torrontes and Bonarda.

It is the job of HPS, here and everywhere, to walk the line between clean, bland international wines and idiosyncratic, maybe too quirky local wines. Fortunately the large number of bodegas makes it possible to find those offering the best common ground – clean, inexpensive wines with plenty of flavor and character. We get to choose from a small but increasing number of ‘boutique’ wineries, catering to a large and still reasonably prosperous local middle class. As the country’s economy recovers, these boutiques will prosper and the supply of reasonably priced wines of character will increase – to the benefit of the producers, and of consumers worldwide.