For years, this crossbreed of Criolla chica and Moscatel de Alejandría was used for producing wines of low oenological quality. Today, this trend has shifted; Wines of Argentina will promote this variety as “the” Argentinian white wine grape. 

The entire Argentinian wine industry seems to be following in successful Malbec’s footsteps. Today, a distinctive white wine variety is being searched, and Torrontés seems to be the answer. Yet, this variety is not as accepted as its forerunner and detractors have already emerged.

For a few years now Cafayate, in Salta, has become the most desirable setting for achieving high quality and aromatically expressive Torrontés wines. Nevertheless, according to the National Viticulture and Winemaking Institute (INV), Mendoza has a production of 524.648 hundred kilograms of wine, which represents 40% of the total wine production, while Salta province produces only 130.646 hundred kilograms, which represents 10% of the wine production.

According to INV records, there are currently 8,196 hectares of Torrontés planted in the whole country, spread throughout the provinces of Mendoza, La Rioja, San Juan, Salta, Catamarca, Río Negro, Córdoba and Tucumán.

“I think Torrontés -along with Bonarda- is the variety that may follow in Malbec’s footsteps. Argentina has a weather that enables the development of this kind of varieties that set it apart from the rest of the world. Moreover, Argentina has a distinctive feature: its price to quality ratio, which customers are looking for in our wines. We must communicate this correctly,” argued Susana Balbo, winemaker and president of Wines of Argentina.

On the same line, Carlos Tizio, from Clos de los Siete group, maintained that “it is a variety that provides wines with very special and distinctive characteristics, enabling different types of winemaking techniques for white wines. I think that wines of great fineness can be obtained; great Torrontés wines may resemble Gewürztraminer, but adding volume and aromatic strength.”

Likewise, winery owner Carlos Crotta indicated that “Argentina has two important vine stocks, with which it may position itself in the world: one is Torrontés, among whites, and the other one is Bonarda, among reds.”

Little faith

Although many people seem to be confident about Torrontés’ potential as a second distinctive variety representing Argentinian wines, other technicians and winery owners look at it more reluctantly.

Ricardo González Villanueva, general manager at bodega Escorihuela Gascón, asserted that “I don’t personally believe in Torrontés. Our emblematic variety is by far Malbec; if you look at the export figures by variety, you will find that Malbec keeps growing and that the closest white variety is Chardonnay. It seems to me that although we Argentinians like Torrontés, it has distinctive features that make it hard for it to conquer foreign markets, such as the aromatic surprises offered by this variety.”

Juan José Canay, from Trapiche winery, said that “Torrontés may open doors for us in the future, but currently this variety is unknown to the world, so we need to conduct significant promotional efforts, for it has much potential. This will be possible as long as these efforts at foreign promotion are adequate and focus on the binomial that sets us apart: quality and price.”

Report by Laura Saieg

Author: María Soledad González - winesur.com

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