O Crios é produzido pela Dominio Del Plata,na região de Mendoza-Argentina,sob os cuidados da competente enóloga Susana Balbo.O teor alcoólico é de 13,9%.

Na taça apresentou um visual rubi intenso com reflexos violáceos.

No nariz frutas vermelhas,café e baunilha.

No paladar é encorpado,equilibrado e potente,tem uma excelente acidez,taninos finos e final de boca prolongado.Um belo vinho!

Preço: 49 reais no Pão de Açucar.

By Rocío Acosta - Winesur.com

Saturday , January 7 , 2012

Wines from Argentina are set to wow the world, predicts Harshal Shah

We in wine circles are always touting what we think is going to be the next ‘big’ thing. I do this quite often and I always beg my readers to take me seriously! And after a trip to South America, I’m convinced that the more esoteric varieties from Argentina are going to take off like a rocket around the world in the same way as their Malbec has over the last decade. Some of these wines are indigenous to Argentina, and others are actually native Italian or French grapes that must have been brought across when migrants first settled here.

In recent years, the Argentines have made Malbec their powerhouse, just as the New Zealanders have with Sauvignon Blanc. This is because Malbec is able to ripen fully in Argentina thanks to the intense sunlight. It allows the tannins to ripen, and the fruit flavours to develop completely so the resulting wine has fully ripe, soft tannins and rich fruity, slightly floral flavours. This is in contrast to Bordeaux or the Cahors region where the native Malbec hasn’t always ripened successfully.

Today, Malbec in Argentina is ubiquitous amongst most producers. The very best ones have decided to invest in other grape varieties. Of these, Torrontés is the most impressive. This white grape is native to Argentina — a cross between the highly aromatic Muscat, and Pais, another native white grape. The best examples are delicate and very perfumed (reminiscent of fresh grapes, jasmine and roses).

Susana Balbo, Argentina’s first woman winemaker, is generally credited as being responsible for creating the Torrontés style. Her winery, Dominio del Plata in Mendoza produces some of the most elegant Torrontés from the region, but the best examples come from the north, in Salta. Currently, two Torrontés are imported into India: FineWinesnMore have their own label MTB Torrontés, and Sula Selections imports a zippy Torrontés from Trapiche, an old family company now controlled by a private equity firm linked to Credit Suisse. Torrontés is perfect for the warm, humid climate in India, and pairs quite aptly with lightly spiced food.

Balbo also produces wines from the Bonarda grape (not the same as the Bonarda of Piedmont), which are rustic and savoury with an underlying dark fruit strain. The addition of Syrah (labelled as Sirah) gives the wine pepper and nutmeg spice. Balbo’s hand lends the wines a touch of elegance. And they’re not expensive.

Tannat is a very difficult wine to get your teeth around. Literally. This highly tannic grape from Madiran in southwest France is produced rather successfully in Uruguay, but the wines are usually chewy, savoury and incredibly high in tannin and extract. Somehow, the Argentines have discovered how to produce softer, fruitier examples and Balbo’s (still a trial) was one of the best I tried. The wine was balanced and firm in the mouth, but still with dark fruit and plushness. Again, very elegant.

Harshal Shah is a sommelier and former executive committee member of the Australian Sommeliers Association. He currently spends his time between Sydney and New Delhi, consulting to restaurants and hotels. Go to www.twitter.com/harshalshah.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120107/jsp/personaltt/story_14973449.jsp

By Amanda Barnes for Wine-Republic.com

The results are finally in! Amanda Barnes rounds up the Annual Wine Republic Tasting 2011 and reveals the results everyone is waiting to see…

Coming up with a shortlist of some of the best wines in Argentina is not an easy task. This year we went for the entire republic and wanted to show our readers some of the country’s best and most diverse wines to rightly show that Argentina is doing much more than Malbec.

We drafted up some of our favourite wines and those which we have genuinely enjoyed tasting over the last year, and consulted a few wine gurus on their top picks too. With a long list we tried to cut it down to around 70 wines with no more than six wines per varietal (we actually ended up with 72 wines, and couldn’t cut our Malbec to any less than 15!)

At the same time we put together a professional body of judges – eight of the finest wine writers, wine makers and experts. After a few months of preparation we arrived to D-Day: 23rd July. The lucky judges heroically swirled their way through 72 outstanding wines, which took around 3 hours, 12 helpers and almost 600 glasses.

After a gruelling evening of tasting, winemakers from each winery featured and members of the local press were invited to TheExecutive Hotel for a post-tasting reception where the invitees and judges could finally let their hair down and finally swallow some of the gorgeous vino.

Speaking to some of the judges after the tasting, they had all felt it had gone well were impressed with the standards of wine on display. “There was a great variety this year, we saw a great diversity in the blends too,” commented Luis Mantegini after the tasting. “I think it is clear that we can see much more of a range to Argentinean wine.”

The judges all commented that what left the biggest impression was the quality in the other varietals – proving that Argentine wine is more than just Malbec and Torrontes.

Posted by Fredric Koeppel http://biggerthanyourhead.net

The theme today, such as it is, is diversity. I chose eight wines that were either 100 percent varietal (or a little blended) from eight different regions as a way of demonstrating, well, I guess the amazing range of places where wine can be made. Eight examples barely scratch the surface of such a topic, of course, and a similar post could probably be written in at least eight variations and not use the same grapes as primary subjects. Another way would be to create a post called “1 grape, 8 Places,” to show the influence that geography has on one variety. That topic is for Read More