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Let's grab the new decade of 2010

January 5, 2010

I am a firm believer in quality and value. In the wine business there are so many wonderful regions to choose from for buying wine. The region we are going to focus on will be Argentina! For all of you that have been down to Argentina, you know how far our dollar goes. Also the food and wines are stunning. Argentina is known for many wonderful varieties; but their claim to fame is the Malbec red grape. Malbec has been growing in Argentina for generations and every producer has a little different flavor depending on the soil, growing area and the winemaker.

Winemakers are like chefs in that they put their own touch on the final blend that gets bottled. Argentina is a full climate different from us. Their harvesting season is in March and April. Therefore they are always a vintage ahead. You want to always purchase a nice fresh vintage of Malbec.

The white grape that is becoming more prevalent is the Torrontes variety. Stylistically this grape is light, refreshing and just a pleasure to drink as an aperitif or with a light seafood.

One winery that has quite an interesting history is Bodega Goulart which dates back to the times before the Brazilian revolution in the year 1932. While living in exile in Mendoza, Gastao Goulart purchased two vineyards planted in 1915 which totaled 60 acres. In 1998 his granddaughter Erika Goulart, while living in Sao Paulo, found the old deeds for the two fincas in Mendoza among her grandfather’s papers in the library. She decided to travel, papers in hand, to the city hall in Mendoza together with her Argentinean husband. She instantly fell in love with the vineyard landscape and snow capped Andes Mountains.

Today the vineyards are 90 years old and are at the peak of quality. Her winemaker is Luis Barraud (from the famous vineyard Vina Cobos whose partner is Paul Hobbs from California).

Just a couple of her wines the Goulart Classico Malbec is $14 and her Torrontes is $13. Talk about Values and SHOPPING SMART!

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About This Blog

Wine is a love, passion and definitely an everyday affair. Sharing wine with friends, family and good food is a part of our daily lives that we have come to look forward to enjoy. I want to be able to share with you my years of experience and love of all kinds of wines and answer the questions you always wanted to ask; but didn't know how or where to ask. There are so many new and interesting varietals coming to us from all parts of the world. You can only be the educated winner. Learn, enjoy and continue to share with friends.

Contributor

Theresa Rogers Matthews has been in the wine industry on the import, distribution and retail for 31 years. Her years of experience has taken her around the world finding wine gems and tasting thousands of bottles and getting to know the wine producers and wine makers personally. Theresa was the cellar master for the Chene de Rotisseurs in Manhattan for a number of years. Food and Wine wrote about her experiences and knowledge in their top 25 women in the wine world issue. For the past 20 years she has owned Horseneck Wines and serving her customers at 25 East Putnam, Greenwich, CT

25 East Putnam
Greenwich, CT
203-869-8944