Drinking Beautifully
Each week I will post a blog which looks to the future, present day and the past 13 years of my trips to Argentina, featuring 3 wines that will be available in all Gaucho restaurants for you to try. They will also be available by the glass for that week too.
Please feel free to feed back your views @mrArgentina
Phil Crozier
Director of Wines at Gaucho
-
Week of 6th May 2013
Tupungato - 'Balcony to the stars'With Malbec being known for its big, juicy, rich style, this weather can sometimes steer people away from Malbec and towards a more elegant, delicate red to compliment the weather. So the blog wines this week are here to put this ‘moving away from malbec’ theory under threat.
-
Week of 22nd April 2013
New wines for April 2013Argentina now enjoys the second highest spend per bottle on a bottle of wine in the U.K., after New Zealand (this is driven by great sauvignon blancs and fantastic pinot noirs). This is exactly where Argentina needs to be.
-
Week of 15th April 2013
World Malbec Day at GauchoGaucho restaurants in London, Manchester and Leeds join 30 cities around the world in celebrating culture, food and wine from Argentina on World Malbec Day, Wednesday 17 April.
-
Week of 8th April 2013
Las Compuertas - Lujan de CuyoThe department of Las Compuertas lies to the west of Mendoza, in Lujan de Cuyo. It is a small but perfectly formed vineyard area, and those lucky enough to own vineyards know that this is an indeed a great area.
-
Week of 25th March 2013
Cabernet oh Cabernet!You see, Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between that of Franc and sauvignon blanc, both of which are Bordeaux varietals, being the result of a chance cross pollination during the 17th century.
-
Week of 18th March 2013
Cabernet Franc - the Bordeaux connectionIn 1852, at the request of Sarmiento, the seventh president of Argentina, Amee Puget brought grapes from France to the university of Mendoza. Up until this point, the grape varierties grown were mainly brought by immigrants from Italy and Spain.
-
Week of 11th March 2013
The diversity of Torrontés…I consider myself to be a very lucky man. I champion a nation that has its own grape variety. Science can be a romance crusher sometimes. It was thought that Torrontés, a grape variety that is grown in the North of Argentina, was first brought to the Andes by Missionaries from Galicia in Spain.
-
Week of 4th March 2013
All that sparkles...Argentines are a joyous lot. I can’t remember the the number of times that a bottles of bubbly has been spontaneously broken out just for the hell of it.
-
Week of 25th February 2013
Grapes with a difference‘It’s like sticking your head in a bucket of ink whilst sharpening a pencil’ , I said. ‘Ooh - let’s have a bottle of that’, said one of our guests, on one of my monthly visits to Leeds on Saturday. I was describing the flavour profile of Petit Verdot, a temperamental grape varietal that originates from Bordeaux in France.
-
Week of 18th February 2013
Blending cool and warm climateIt is common practice in Mendoza, Argentina’s most prolific region of wine production, to blend grapes from different sub - regions. Cool climate, to be found in the southern region of Mendoza, gives fruit much colour and aroma, since aroma and acidity are destroyed by too much heat...
-
Week of 11th February 2013
NO OAKI don’t have anything against oak. In fact, I love the taste. I have tasted wine from barrel in more wineries than I care to remember...
-
Week of 4th February 2013
"LUNATICO"Over the years, I have met my fair share of characters in Argentina, all with passion, warmth and a touch of madness about them. The wine industry seems to attract the eccentric, all trying in their own way to fulfil their dreams...