The old world has its distinctive wine regions such as Beaujolais or Rioja. But the new world has to fall back on grape varieties to offer a choice of taste, writes Derek Kingwell.

New Zealand found it could do sauvignon blanc better than anyone even the French. Australia knocked us for six with its shiraz before everyone else got on the bandwagon; South Africa has pinotage; California has zinfandel; Chile has discovered that much of its "merlot" is, instead, the rare carmenre; and neighbour Argentina has been performing wonders with malbec and beginning to excite with torronts.

Over the last five years or so, wine writers and pundits have often talked about the great potential of Argentinean wine.

Well, the waiting is over, the time for exploration beneath the cork is most definitely now and be excited. Be very excited!

The wines fully reflect the variety of the landscape and the people, and there is a lot of the stuff around - Argentina is the fourth largest wine-producing nation in the world. Now, there's a piece of vinfo to surprise and excite.

Culturally, Argentina is a bit of a manic mish-mash. Not a clone of Chile in any sense, the heart of Argentina is essentially European.

Early Spanish conquest preceded an influx of Italian immigrants; today, more than 50 per cent of Argentina's people can trace their roots back to Italy. Other settlers, such as the English and French, have also made an indelible impression.

Situated just over the Andes, whose looming peaks form an extremely effective climatic barrier, the weather is quite different - hot and with more rain than its neighbour Chile.

Ideal conditions for producing juicy, flavour-rich, concentrated grapes.

The shining torch in Argentina is undoubtedly malbec. Relegated to a bit part in France, here it generally produces a dark, brooding wine, packed to the gills with plump, soft berry, black cherry and, on occasion, damson fruit.

Although it was once widely planted in Bordeaux it is now mostly associated with the Cahors region of France and Argentina where it has become the country's signature red wine.

It makes a good partner with strong flavours and substantial textures such as chilli con carne, chicken livers, wild boar and even barbecue sauce.

Argentina's climate means that Chile will probably always have the edge for whites, although torronts is beginning to grab the attention.

A white Spanish grape variety, originally from Galicia, torronts was best described to me recently by Barry Howarth, the new manager of Kendal's Oddbins, as "...a sort of South American dry muscat."

The light floral perfume and clean grapey flavour of muscat bonds beautifully with an Argentinean apricot dryness and lots of zing to create a refreshing, almost savoury aperitif that should be drunk as young as possible.

It is also a versatile partner with many different styles of food such as asparagus, melon with parma ham, smoked chicken salad with grapes and even light Indian dishes.

If you haven't paid much attention to Argentinean wines in the past now is the time to investigate, especially malbec and torronts.

May 29, 2003 10:31