Sparkling Wines from Argentina! (Affordable high quality sparkling wines, under the radar sparkling wines, Sparkling Rosé from Malbec, crowd pleasing sparkling wines, sparkling wine for red wine lovers)

Show Notes

Episode 66: Sparkling Wines from Argentina  00:00

Hello! And welcome to The Wine Pair Podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime, Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair! 

Ok, a quick orientation for those of you who may be new to the podcast - in each episode we learn about, taste and review three wines that are reasonably priced - meaning under $20 - and should be easy for you to find. Our goal is to have some fun, learn about some new wines, and talk about wines in a way that regular people like us can understand. And we are proud to say that we are officially recommended by the editors of Decanter Magazine from their October issue, who call us fun, irreverent, chatty, and entertaining. 

Alright, we are back with an episode on sparkling wines, which is one of our very favoritist things in the whole wide world! But, today we are doing something a little different as we mentioned in our little intro, because we are focusing on sparkling wines that are reasonably priced and relatively easy to find, but are a bit off the radar - and so today we are going to be learning about and tasting and reviewing sparkling wines from Argentina.

Now, I know what you are thinking, Carmela. What are you thinking? You are thinking “I didn’t know they made sparkling wine in Argentina” - and I think most people who are not from South America or are not sparkling wine super aficionados would not know that, but it’s a thing, and we are going to explore it. Ok?!? Is that ok with you, Carmela?!?

Now, do you know what wine Argentina is most famous for? I’ll give you a hint if you want it - it is a red wine that starts with the letter M, and that we have bought from Costco because the Kirkland Signature of it is cheap and good. Any guesses? One more hint, it is not Messi - although Messi start with an M the wine is not called Lionel Messi, although if you connect Messi and Argentina because of their recent World Cup win we cannot blame you whatsoever.

Yes, Carmela. The answer is Malbec. You win! Now, Malbec is generally a red wine that pairs well with Argentinian cuisine which tends to be very red meat oriented, and so a rich red wine like Malbec is a great and underrated pairing with red meats, especially grilled red meats. And, Argentina is no slouch when it comes to wine production - did you know, Carmela, that it is the 5th largest producer of wine in the world, which may be surprising to some of you - but most of that wine production is, yes, Malbec. 

However, rather than talking about the red wine version of Malbec, we are going to be talking about sparkling wines from Argentina that sometimes have Malbec in them - and two of the sparkling wines we are going to have today are made with Malbec, which is really cool and fun and exciting because it is so different. And I love that! I mean, after all, that is why we are doing this podcast, am I right?

In fact, the idea for this episode came up when we were pulling together a couple of episodes around the holidays for sparkling wine, because everyone thinks about sparkling wines around the holidays, and I really started to get intrigued about sparkling wine from other areas of the world than just France and Italy and the US and Spain, and then got really interested in sparkling wine from Argentina, and I thought, hey, we should do a whole episode on sparkling wine from Argentina, and who knows, maybe if this episode goes well, we’ll do some more - because there is a lot more sparkling wine from Argentina out there! And then we can expand into other countries where they make sparkling wine but that a lot of us just don’t know about. 

So, we’ll talk about Argentinian wine and wine production, and we’ll taste and review three reasonably priced, highly rated, and easy to find sparkling wines from Argentina to see what we think . . . 

But first . . . we have to do our shameless plug, right Carmela? First, we want to give a big thank you to you for listening to us and for your support of our show, and if you have had the change to do so yet, we would love it if you would subscribe to our podcast as a free way to support us even more and then you never have to miss a show!  - and a huge thank you to all of you who have subscribed already - we really really appreciate it! And, another great way to support us for FREE is to leave a nice rating and review on our website or on Apple Podcasts or other podcast service where they allow that sort of thing so we can continue to grow our listeners.

You can also follow us and see fun pictures of the wines we are tasting and trying today on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast, and you can contact us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com and we want you to tell us the next wine you want us to do a tasting and review of - just leave a voice message or send us a note and tell us your ideas and we’ll give you a shout out on the show!

And, as we do every week, we’ll tell you someone we think you should tell about The Wine Pair Podcast - and this week we want you to tell anyone who loves sparkling wine but is stuck on Prosecco or Cava. 

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.tastings.com/About-Sparkling-Wine-Types-Argentina.aspx

Topic: Wait, they make sparkling wines in Argentina?!? 08:08

Now let’s talk a little bit about the sparkling wine industry in Argentina, which, again, I think is something people may not be very familiar with, because, frankly, I really knew nothing about it until I started digging around.

When it comes to sparkling wine, the largest producer is - who do you think, Carmela. Wild guess. It’s actually Italy, which I think may also surprise some people. In order, the top 5 producers of sparkling wine are Italy, France, Germany - which I think again is another surprise for some people I would never have guessed that - Spain, and the US. Those 5 countries make about 80% of all of the sparkling wine in the world, and sparkling wine makes up about 8% of all wine production, so of all of the wine production in the world, sparkling is already only a small percentage, and Argentina is just a small percentage of that small percentage.

So, when we talk about Argentina and sparkling wine, it is not a huge surprise why we may not know all that much about it, especially when, again, the 800 pound gorilla of wine production in Argentina is Malbec. 

But sparkling wine actually has a pretty long history in Argentina, and there is a connection between German sparkling wine and sparkling wine in Argentina. Want to know more Carmela? According to information I found on the interwebs, sparkling wine has been made in Argentina since about 1902, so more than 100 years, when a German immigrant named Carlos Kalless started making it, using the same approach to his sparkling wine as the way Champagne is made - often called the traditional method. Shortly after him, another German named Hans von Toll also started making it in Argentina in the same way and at about the same time, both of them do so in the Mendoza region or Argentina. So, interesting that sparkling wine in the French style was started by some German immigrants in Argentina!

Over the years, several famous Champagne and sparkling wine makers, or sparkling wine houses which is the fancy way of saying it, entered into the Argentina market, including Moet Chandon, one of the most famous and prestigious sparkling wine companies in the world, who started a subsidiary there in 1959, and in fact the Argentina subsidiary was their first international operation outside of France. Which is kind of cool. Later, Deutz which is another well regarded Champagne producer came in in 1980, and then Mumm, another well known Champagne house, came in in 2003. Today, there are more than 133 wineries that make sparkling wine in Argentina, and the country produces 42 million liters of it. Which is a lot! And Argentina is the largest producer of sparkling wine in South America. 

Traditionally, sparkling wine in Champagne, and often those made in the Champagne style, are made from two core grapes - Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes need cooler climates to reach the right acidity to make a good sparkling wine. In a country like Argentina, the only places to grow wine grapes at cool enough climates are at high altitude, so there are only a few places in the country where these grapes can be grown - namely in the foothills of the Andes and Patagonia. Most of the grapes for sparkling wine in Argentina, then, are grown in the famous Mendoza area, which is of course where they grow a lot of Malbec, so, as we will see and as I mentioned, Malbec shows up in some of their sparkling wine as well. 

On a side note, sparkling wine in Argentina is often called Espumante, and of course one of the reasons for that is that you cannot call a sparkling wine made outside of the Champagne region of France Champagne so they had to come up with their own name, and actually Espumante is a common name used for sparkling wine in Spanish speaking countries and especially South America. 

According to our friends at Decanter magazine, Argentina sparkling wines are growing in reputation, and their wines made in the Champagne method are considered high quality and reasonably priced, which is just perfect for our podcast. I mean, that is what we want! Good and inexpensive - we call that high QPR. 

And in another article from a website called Wines of Argentina, it sounds like the growth of sparkling wine in Argentina has really blossomed since 2005, and so we should all keep our eyes open for wines from this region. In much the same way that Prosecco sort of took over the sparkling wine world in terms of volume and popularity because they were inexpensive and fun to drink, and Cava feels like it is doing the same but with wines made in the more traditional Champagne method, I could easily see the same happening with Argentinian sparkling wines over the next 10 years given their quality and price point. 

Ok, enough about all of that, let’s talk about the specific wines that we chose for this episode. 

ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.bkwine.com/features/more/the-world-market-for-sparkling-wines-which-are-the-winners-and-losers/ 
• https://oray-wine.com/en/argentinian-sparkling-wines-a-bright-and-organic-future/
• https://blog.winesofargentina.com/destacadas/argentine-sparkling-wines/
• https://www.decanter.com/argentina-2014-coverage/argentine-bubbles-keys-to-understanding-a-growing-consumer-phenomenon-484/
• https://winesofargentina.org/en/single-news/20_01_2020/the-long-history-of-argentine-sparkling-wines 

Sparkling Wines from Argentina We Chose for This Episode 16:53

As usual, all the wines we have chosen for this episode are under $20, and all of these should be at least relatively easy to find, and I know that because, spoiler alert, we bought all of these wines on wine.com. Now, I’m not sure you are going to find Argentinian sparkling wines at your local grocery store or corner wine shop, but I would love to find out if you do in your neck of the woods. But, at bigger wine shops, you should not have a problem finding them or at least being able to order them.

And, as an extra bonus, each of these wines has a rating 90 or over from a professional reviewer, and although James Suckling is on the list of professional reviewers, the wine he reviewed was also reviewed by someone that I trust. And, for those of you who don’t know, I am not a huge James Suckling fan because, basically, he gives every wine a what Carmela? That’s right, a 90.

Ok, our first wine is called Belasco de Baquedano Rosa de Argentina and it is a Brut Nature Rosé. We like brut nature in general because it means that no sugar is added in the second fermentation - and we like that because they are very dry and crisp wines. And, yes we will say it again, when a sparkling wine says “dry” on the bottle, it is on the sweeter side, and when it says “brut” it actually means the wine is dry.

Again, remember that rosé means that the wine is made from red wine grapes, and the juice is in contact with skin for less than 24 hours - so rosé is a style of winemaking and not a thing or a varietal on its own.

This wine is made from 100% Malbec, so Malbec is the varietal, and so with sparkling wines and rosé wines it is important to know what grapes the wine is made from, so I am really interested to see what it tastes like - if it has some of those cherry and plum flavors that are common in a Malbec or not. 

The winery says that vineyards they use for their wines are at about 3,000 feet of elevation, and are noted for having warm days and cool nights, which helps them get some good acidity. Now, I believe this wine is made in the traditional or Champagne method, but I am not completely sure, and could not find any specific information on the interwebs about it. And, our friend ChatGPT actually gave me two different answers on two different occasions. So, for now, I am assuming that it is made using the traditional method, mostly because they are using the term brut nature. 

The second wine we are trying today is our only non-rosé of the day, and it is called Domaine Bousquet Organic Brut. 

So this one is not rosé, it is just a good old sparkling brut, so again that means it is dry which is on the opposite end of sweet, which is not to say that it won’t have sweetness on it, it is just not sweet wine, and it is also organic, which is fun. This wine is also not made with Malbec even though it is from the Mendoza area, but rather is made with the classic Champagne grapes of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and is 75% Chard and 25% Pinot. 

One interesting thing about this wine is that it is also confusing on what method is used to make the wine. According to the wine website, which I have a link to in our show notes, the wine is made in the Charmat method, so the second fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks before it is bottled. Some information was saying it was made in the “traditional” method with the second fermentation happening in the bottle, but the winemaker’s own website calls out the Charmat method. And I kind of found that with all these wines - it was difficult to figure out how the wines are made. 

So, I am not quite sure what to think about it, but it has gotten several good reviews, and uses the classic Champagne grapes, so I am super excited to try it. 

The last wine we are tasting today is right on the edge of our price point at $19.99 - so it just squeaked in. It is called Alma Negra Brut Nature Rosé, so again this is a wine that I am expecting to be very dry, and fun again that it is another rosé. 

This wine is made from two red wine grapes - both Malbec and Pinot Noir, which is a combination I have never had before that I am aware of. I am also like 99.9% sure it is made in the traditional method. It does have a 90 rating from Robert Parker, and he is someone I often do not agree with, but we need to give this one a try before we make that call. We are not going to bias it!

I will also say the wine bottle and label for this wine is very dramatic. The bottle is a stunning almost old fashioned shape, and the label is just black and white with the faint image of a mask that looks like a carnival or almost a Guy Fawkes mask. 

So, this will be fun. Three different wines made from different grapes, all sparkling, and two of them rosé from a part of the wine world that we are just learning about! This will be a hoot! I am super excited!

All right, enough of this talking - I think it’s time to get drinking! Whaddya say?!?


ARTICLES and LINKS

• https://www.wine.com/product/belasco-de-baquedano-rosa-de-argentina-sparkling/417966
• https://www.wine.com/product/domaine-bousquet-organic-brut/430779 
• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VTKi0su3dXwutv-1VdRgr6UoEmh8OkfG 
• https://www.vineyardbrands.com/content/Restaurant%20Sheets/0110/0110-20-08-25-15-02-38-88.pdf?v230220175709 

Argentinian Sparkling Wine Pairing Tasting and Reviews 24:24

Wine: Belasco de Baquedano Rosa de Argentina Sparkling (Click here to learn about this wine. Affiliate link)
Region: Argentina, Mendoza
Producer: Belasco de Baquedano
Year: NV
Price: $11.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 11.5%
Grapes: Malbec
Professional Rating: WW 91

What we tasted and smelled in this Sparkling Rosé: 

• On the nose: Peach, strawberry candy, citrus, sweet smelling, creamy, watermelon
• In the mouth: Bitter, has body, not very bubbly, creamy, strawberry tart, lime juice, watermelon lime Capri Sun. Strawberry shortcake. 

Food to pair with this Sparkling Rosé: Cheese board, charcuterie, appetizer, a first course wine, spicy food, fried food, Thanksgiving dinner. A fun gift wine.  Dessert friendly wine. Strawberry shortcake. Chocolate. Crowd pleaser. Feels Spring-like.
 
As a reminder on our rating scale, we rate on a scale of 1-10, where 7 and above means that we would buy it, and 4 and below means that we are likely to pour it down the sink, and a 5 or 6 means we are likely to drink it and finish it, but we are probably not going to buy it. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 7/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Wine: Domaine Bousquet Organic Brut (Click here to learn about this wine. Affiliate link)
Region: Argentina, Mendoza
Producer: Domaine Bousquet
Year: NV
Price: $11.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 11.3%
Grapes: 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir
Professional Rating: V 90, JS 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Sparkling Brut: 

• On the nose: Martinelli’s sparkling cider, apple pie, spice, cinnamon, Granny Smith apple, tart apple, yellow apple, a bit of yeast, pear
• In the mouth: Dry, Granny Smith apple, lemon curd, creaminess, bubby, stone

Food to pair with this Sparkling Brut: Very versatile with food, fried fish, spicy Thai food, Thanksgiving, pizza, cream sauces, spaghetti with clams. Crowd pleaser. Very good wine. 

Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela: 8/10

Wine: Alma Negra Brut Nature Rosé (Click here to learn about this wine. Affiliate link)
Region: Argentina, Mendoza
Producer: Alma Negra
Year: NV
Price: $19.99
Retailer: wine.com
Alcohol: 12.5%
Grapes: Malbec, Pinot Noir
Professional Rating: RP 90

What we tasted and smelled in this Sparkling Rosé: 

• On the nose: Does not smell like a normal sparkling wine, fire, red wine smells, leather, earth, matchstick, black cherry, burning barbecue wood, charcoal, meat
• In the mouth: A nice change, has a red wine feel to it, a good sparkling wine for red wine lovers, cherry, plum, red fruit, creaminess, bubbly, a great sparkling wine for wine snobs or wine geeks, sophisticated, a great wine experience, great conversation wine

Food to pair with this Sparkling Rosé: Red meat, pizza, fried fish, salmon, grilled foods, charcuterie

Rating: 

• Joe: 8/10
• Carmela: 7/10

Which one of these are you finishing tonight?

• Carmela: Domaine Bousquet Organic Brut
• Joe: Alma Negra Brut Nature Rosé

Taste profiles expected from Sparkling Rosa and Sparkling Brut from Argentina  43:20

• Belasco de Baquedano Rosa
  • ChatGPT for Sparkling Malbec Rosa: Aroma: red fruits like strawberries, raspberries, and cherries, along with floral notes such as rose petals and hibiscus.
    • Palate: refreshing acidity and bright flavors of red fruits, as well as some savory notes like herbal and mineral undertones. The wine can also have a creamy mouthfeel from the bubbles, often leaves a pleasant fruity and floral aftertaste.
  • Winemaker: On the nose, it reveals a range of aromas of red fruits (cherry, plum and strawberry) together with violets. Excellent freshness, elegance and finesse.
  • WW: This offers tart red fruit aromas and flavors.
• Domaine Bousquet Organic Brut
  • Winemaker: Greenish yellow color with fine bubbles. The wine shows aromas of citrus, apple, and tropical fruits. On the palate, it unfolds green apple and tropical flavors as well as delicate hints of yeasts.
  • V: The attractive nose features lemon zest and green apple with hints of strawberry yoghurt and yeast. Ethereal in the mouth, the refined bubbles form a healthy mousse while the flavor is anchored in green apple. Toward the end, it’s yeasty with a dry, malic feel
  • JS: This has aromas of cooked apples, lemon pith, peaches and pie crust. It’s medium-bodied with round bubbles and a ripe, soft palate. Dry.
• Alma Negra
  • ChatGPT for Sparkling Malbec and Pinot Noir Rosa: 
    • Aroma: fruit-forward, with notes of strawberries, raspberries, and cherries. There may also be some floral notes, such as rose petals or hibiscus.
    • Palate: a delicate sweetness balanced by lively acidity. There may be flavors of ripe red fruits, such as strawberry, raspberry, and cherry, as well as some hints of citrus, like orange or grapefruit. The Malbec could bring some earthy notes and tannins to the mix while the Pinot Noir can provide some red fruitiness and minerality. a slight hint of creaminess or brioche bread from the secondary fermentation. The aftertaste is characterized by red fruit and floral notes, and it is dry and refreshing
  • Winemaker: Zingy lime with crisp acidity.
  • RP: crisp, elegant acids intermixed with strawberry, cranberry and fruit cocktail-like notes. It is medium-bodied and just delicious.

Open your mind to Argentinian sparkling wine!

Outro and how to find The Wine Pair Podcast 46:16

Ok, so, Carmela, sadly it is just about time for us to go, but before we do, we want to thank you very much again for listening to us and for your support - AND if you haven’t done so yet, now would be the perfect time to subscribe to our podcast AND also a fantastic time to leave us a nice rating and review on our website or Apple podcasts or other podcast service - and it is an awesome and free way to support us and help us grow listeners.

We would also love to hear from you about a wine you would like us to taste and review, especially if it is associated with some special event. Again, leave a message for us on our website thewinepairpodcast.com, or you can just email us at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com and tell us about a wine you are curious about, or curious what we think of it. And, follow us on Instagram so you can see pictures of all of these wines we are tasting and reviewing. 

And, we would love it if you would tell a couple of friends or family members about us, and listen to our next episode with your significant other! That sounds fun, right?!? Like a date night?!?

Alright, with that, we are going to sign off, so thanks again, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine.