Last year, I asked winemaker Aurelio Montes Jr. for his scoop on the next big thing from Argentina. That might sound like a misplaced question because Montes is from Chile, where he is technical director at Vina Montes. But he had just returned from a long stint on the other side of the Andes at Kaiken, the company's Argentine property, and he had been expressing concern about the challenges facing a country that, to the world and to its own frustration, remains largely synonymous with one grape, malbec.
I had a restriction. He was not permitted to answer with cabernet sauvignon, bonarda or torrontes because wine critics have been beating the drum for those varieties for some time. His reply? Cabernet franc, the leaner, herbal-tinged parent of cabernet sauvignon.
Montes had a disclaimer, though: Don't bother looking for it because there's precious little of this off-the-radar offering to go around even within the home market – just 600 hectares planted versus 31,000 for malbec. So, if anything, cabernet franc might be called Argentina's next little thing.
I recalled his words while previewing a bunch of Argentine reds from the Jan. 21 release at Ontario Vintages stores. There are, alas, no pure cabernet francs in the lineup, which does include decent and, for the most part, mercifully earthy malbecs and cabernet sauvignons. But my favourite, BenMarco Expresivo, happens to be a blend of malbec with 20-per-cent cabernet franc.
It's a mere splash, to be sure. But Argentina's famously smooth, dense, sweetly fruity malbecs often seem to me in need of a little discipline – a dry, firm spine, if you will. Clearly many winemakers agree. That's why, on one hand, so many have been racing to extremely high altitudes, where cooler temperatures preserve acidity and enable berries to ripen with more interesting flavours. (Trivia note: The excellent Colomé malbec below hails from the self-proclaimed highest vineyard on the planet.) It's also why they are increasingly turning out multi-grape, proprietary blends that marry malbec with such grapes as cabernet sauvignon, bonarda, syrah and merlot. Why not also cabernet franc, then? It could be hottest little tango partner malbec's ever had.
BenMarco Expresivo 2014, Argentina
SCORE: 92 PRICE: $39.95
BenMarco is an ultrapremium, high-altitude-focused label of Susana Balbo Wines. The recipe for Expresivo, a red blend, changes significantly each year, and in 2014 it featured just two grapes, 80-per-cent malbec with 20-per-cent cabernet franc. Full-bodied and creamy, showing blackberry, dark chocolate, tobacco and herbs. Firm, satisfying structure without astringency. Available in Ontario at the above price, $46.99 in British Columbia.
Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Argentina
SCORE: 91 PRICE: $47.95
Full-bodied and ripe yet tight and showing good posture. Cassis, earth, vanilla and tobacco. This comes across more like trim-tailored Médoc than heavy-set Napa, though this is sunny cabernet in the end, to be sure. Available in Ontario at the above price, various prices in Alberta, $48 in Quebec, $53.99 in Nova Scotia.
Colomé Estate Malbec 2013, Argentina
SCORE: 91 PRICE: $29.95
Donald Hess, the Swiss native who got his entrepreneurial start with bottled water and may be best known for the Hess Collection Winery in Napa Valley, with its world-class and tasteful little art gallery, eventually set his sights on becoming king of the wine hill, so to speak. A shopping expedition to find the highest vineyard in the world took him to Bodega Colomé at a literally breathtaking 3,111 metres above sea level. The wine here is ultrasmooth, with a syrupy blueberry core yet a laudably earthy, peppery essence and even a very agreeable whisper of barnyard funk. Not your typical Argentine malbec. Available in Ontario at the above price, various prices in Alberta, $29.79 in Manitoba.
Fabre Montmayou Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2014, Argentina
SCORE: 90 PRICE: $18.95
This has the gait of what the British would call a decent claret. Confidently dry, it shows black currant, olive, chocolate and mineral notes with a good combination of density and tension and sticky, gently angular tannins for support. Available in Ontario at the above price, various prices in Alberta.
Ataland Tinto Historico 2015, Argentina
SCORE: 89 PRICE: $16.95
"Tinto" here is Spanish for tinted or dark or, more specifically as relates to wine, red. "Historico," meanwhile, refers to a once common practice in Argentina of blending malbec with petit verdot, the deeply coloured, tannic variety that, like malbec, used to comprise a bigger percentage in Bordeaux blends. There's plummy, mouthwatering fruit in this one along with hints of caramel, thyme, damp earth and smoke. Available in Ontario.
Zuccardi Emma Bonarda 2014, Argentina
SCORE: 89 PRICE: $39.95
Medium-bodied and gutsy. A juicy berry medley, with bitter edge, faint traces of leather and Moroccan olive along with supple-ripe tannins. Available in Ontario and the above price, various prices in Alberta.
Felino Vina Cobos Malbec 2015, Argentina
SCORE: 89 PRICE: $19.95
This conforms to the classic malbec playbook: Serve up that youthfully grapy, concentrated fruit-punch profile and the world will beat a path to your cellar door. And yet it does the job ably. Smooth, round, vanilla-tinged and easy to drink. Available in Ontario at the above price, $21.99 in British Columbia, various prices in Alberta, $19 in Manitoba.