Argentine winemakers head to the coast

The wine regions of Argentina, Mendoza and San Juan in the east, Salta in the north, and Patagonia in the south are known worldwide, with their wines recognised by the most important — and traditional — wine markets of the world.

Recently, new viticultural areas have been opened up for cultivation, with promising results. One of these is the South Atlantic coast, not far from the ocean. It’s a completely new terroir.

How it all began

The history of Argentina’s wines began 400 years ago with the help of the Spanish colonisers and the Christian missionaries. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Argentina received an influx of European migrants, particularly from Spain and Italy, along with smaller numbers of other nationalities. Many of these new migrants wanted wine, and viticulture flourished. The Buenos Aires and Entre Ríos provinces, close to the capital, were the main suppliers of wine to the thirsty population.

Wine business in these regions grew until the Great Depression of 1930 struck Argentina, seriously affecting regional economies. At the same time, the producers of the Cuyo region, Mendoza and San Juan, put pressure on the then President Agustín P. Justo — paradoxically, born in Entre Ríos — to pass a national wine law. That law, number 12,137, prohibited the commercialisation of wine from anywhere other than Cuyo and the northern provinces. This led to the destruction of all existing vineyards in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Entre Ríos; at the time, it was argued that their owners could grow other products to sell.

The law was repealed in 1998 and the cultivation and production of wines resumed with a new impetus. According to the National Institute of Viticulture (INV), Buenos Aires and Entre Ríos are now among the 18 Argentine provinces where wine is made. The others are Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja, Salta, Catamarca, Neuquén, Río Negro, Córdoba, La Pampa, Tucumán, San Luis, Chubut, Santiago del Estero, Misiones, Jujuy and Santa Fe.

Today, 15 wine producers of different sizes have established themselves in these revived regions.

Costa & Pampa

Trapiche, one of Argentina’s biggest wine producers, founded a new winery after Daniel Pi, the chief winemaker, and Marcelo Belmonte, the head of agronomy, decided to see how far they could push the limits of Argentina’s agronomy. Their plan was to make wines with an oceanic influence, and they chose the Estancia Santa Isabel estate at Chapadmalal, in which to do it . The winery, Costa & Pampa, is 420km from Buenos Aires and only 6km from the sea. The area is a semi-peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, east and south, which makes the climate purely oceanic. The vineyards were planted in 2009, then an experimental winery was built in 2013.
The project now has 31 ha of vineyards, some of which are planted with varieties that are under-cultivated in Argentina. The climate is humid and cold, making it ideal for short cycle varieties as Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Ancellotta, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Albariño and Chenin Blanc, as well as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Pinot Noir. The moderate maximum temperatures during the day, plus the cool nights, provide less thermal accumulation throughout the vegetative cycle, making the conditions similar to regions of New Zealand. The result is fresher and more delicate wines of great aromatic complexity and good volume.

The watering regime is pluvial, meaning there’s great inter-seasonal variability about when water is discharged; in summer in a dry year, it’s 1,100mm/year. For this reason, the vineyards are cultivated without irrigation. As for the soils of this region, they present a profile with three layers: the first is a black, nutrient rich black soil; then comes a clay layer that has great capacity to retain water; and, finally, a deeper, calcareous layer, formed by calcium carbonate rocks. This soil profile translates into excellent wines of a mineral nature.

The winemaking is done by the young oenologist Ezequiel Ortego. So far, a fresh and citric Sauvignon Blanc, an oaked Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir have been launched to market, along with, a Brut Rosé made with Pinot Noir with 12 months sur lies, and an Extra Brut, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The location of the Costa & Pampa winery gives the wines an extra advantage in terms of marketing — it’s located just 25km from the seaside resort city of Mar del Plata. Not only does the city have 650,000 permanent inhabitants, but it also plays host to more than 2m tourists each summer, many whom visit the winery and vineyards to taste and buy their wines at the visitor’s centre.

Al Este

The city of Médanos is located at the southern extreme of the province of Buenos Aires, 7km from the Atlantic Ocean. Situated near the mouth of the Río Negro, the largest blackwater river in the world, it’s 732km from the capital. In 2000, the entrepreneur Daniel Di Nucci was inspired by his travels through the south of France to start a tourism project in his hometown, based on businesses he’d seen in Europe. When he built Al Este winery he returned winemaking to the province after an absence of 63 years.

The vineyards sit at 39 degrees latitude, the place where Patagonia and Pampa converge, and the project began with a study of the soils, which revealed they are sandy over a calcareous plate. This means they are heat absorbent, which helps the grapes to develop. Next came an experimental vineyard. Today, there are 25 ha planted with Malbec, Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The renowned Italian winemaker, Alberto Antonini, was the first consultant, who established the parameters for wine production. After eight years of work, effort and investment, the first commercial wines were launched.

Al Este is advised by winemaker Melisa Agamenonni, whose career has taken her to the USA, Australia and Chile. Its wines are sold in the neighbouring city of Bahía Blanca and throughout the region, and also have national distribution.

Bahía Bustamante

Going even further south to the province of Chubut, in the heart of southern Patagonia, reveals a new wine project led by the renowned winemaker Matías Michelini, one of the first winemakers in Argentina to focus on the Uco Valley. He is also known for his lean, mineral wines.

The project itself began in a property belonging to the family of Lorenzo Soriano, a Spanish immigrant who, since the early 1950s, has been dedicated to the collection and processing of algae. Harvested for its agar content — commonly used for laboratory specimens and hair gel — the algae business grew so big that Soriano founded the town of Bahía Bustamante to house the 400 workers. In the past 15 years, however, the level of algae has plunged and the business has closed — and the town abandoned.

In 2010, Matías Soriano, grandson of the founder, decided to revitalise the town and created an exclusive hotel called Bahía Bustamante Lodge. Its draw is that it sits in a unique wilderness at a latitude of -45°; guests can enjoy spectacular fauna that includes rheas, sea lions, penguins and ducks.

In September 2018 a vineyard modified the landscape of Bahía Bustamante.

Soriano also decided to develop a wine project on the site, so Tato Giovannoni, a well-known bartender in Argentina, introduced him to winemaker Matías Michelini. Soil studies in 2018 revealed that the beach in front of the hotel offered spectacular conditions for vine growing, with its soils of seashells, stones and clay. An experimental vineyard was planted with Semillón and Pinot Noir, two varieties that Michelini thought were capable of expressing the character of the place. The drip irrigation comes from a stream 22km away that the elder Soriano piped in the 1940s to bring water to the town. Eventually a few more hectares will be planted, by the intention is to keep the project small scale.

“All my life I devoted myself to mountain wines,” said Michelini. “This is a great opportunity to make wines with a marine character. The vineyard is so near to the sea that, on full moon days, the high tide makes the sea water reach three metres from the plants.”

This year, wine was made in concrete eggs buried on the same beach, with both the Semillón and Pinot Noir fermented on skins. After fermentation, the musts were pressed, and the team expects to bottle the wines after the southern winter.

When the wines are ready to drink, they will be proof that Argentina has an extraordinary geography, that offers the opportunity to explore new terroirs and new ways of producing diversity in wine.