In July I was tasting with one of our strategic partners who imports South American wines. They presented a number of Malbecs from different winemakers and regions. Typically, I consider this category relatively homogenous but I was surprised at how different the wines were from specific growing regions within Mendoza in a side-by-side comparison. This motivated me to select two examples to show you what I experienced. Also, this is the first time in 12 years that we have ever featured two Malbecs in the same month. I hope you enjoy this experiment.
Since the focus for this month is on the differences between these two styles of Malbec it is worth taking the time to explain the way wine regions in Argentina are named. It is important to realize that Mendoza is a very large area, more than 57,000 square miles, which is equivalent to the state of Georgia in the US. Starting in the 1990s, producers began petitioning the government to use regional names to differentiate between the growing conditions unique to some areas. These sub-zones are called Geographical Indications, or GIs, for short. The research for new GIs is ongoing, as producers strive to find the subtle differences between growing regions, similar to many other wine regions of the world. Our features this month come from two distinct GIs, one in the Valle de Uco and the second in Maipú.
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