Argentina’s recent showing at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) underscored the country’s dominance as South America’s top-producing wine region, largely due to its enviable yet distinct terroir. The awarding of no less than four of the top 50 Best In Show medals from a field of 18,244 wines cements the Mendoza region as one which can deliver, arguably, unmatched value in wine varietals. Today we will feature the remaining three vintages made in the region that won medals in the Best In Show category. That they are produced by three completely different wineries within different sub-regions of Mendoza, is a further demonstration of Argentina’s prowess as a bastion of wine production on the southern continent.

The Avinea Group’s Pacheco Pereda’s Best in Show medal was for its Estirpe Organic Fairtrade Cabernet Franc, produced in the Lujan de Cuyo subregion of Mendoza. The 2021 vintage, which achieved a score of 97 points, has a deep black-red colour, with warm, sweetly pippy scents that caress the nose. In the mouth, its vibrant raspberry and damson fruits present an excitingly pleasurable, yet extravagant, smooth, fruity flavour. Despite the gentleness of its acidity and its tannins, this wine still contrives to give the palate a sense of texture, amplitude and satisfaction. Of note is the fact that, of the two sole Cabernet Francs that were awarded Best In Show medals, only one is organic, making Estirpe Organic Fairtrade Cabernet Franc the best organic Cabernet Franc in the world.

The wine is produced by the Avinea Group, Argentina’s largest producer of organic wines and the industry standard regarding wine sustainability. They possess a comprehensive portfolio, focused on the consumer while being guided by innovation and are founding members of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR). With a wine presence in over 50 countries, this is one of the most important awards they have won, since their decision to organically develop their wines beginning in the mid-2000s. Their vineyards were planted in the Alto Agrelo area in 2009, allowing them to achieve the best organic wines from the unique, high-altitude terroir of the Mendoza area bordered by the Andes mountain range. Pacheco Pereda also won a silver and a bronze medal for its other wine entries.

Morrisons The Best Gran Montaña Reserve Malbec, the third Best In Show wine from Argentina, is produced by Bodega Catena Zapata under special partnership with Morrisons Supermarkets, the fourth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. Achieving a score of 97 points, this 100% Malbec made from grapes grown in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, is opaque, purple-black-red in colour with huge saturation on the sides of the glass after a swirl. Its fruity opulence caresses the nose with billowing damson and sloe pointed up by notes of tea leaf and rose. Hints of delicious blueberry, succulent plum fruit along with a tease of decadent chocolate fuse pleasantly in the mouth, its taste pure, fine and fresh with an ample sinew, sap and ripely leafy inner freshness.

The inspiration behind the wine’s creation is rooted in Morrisons’ need to provide their customers with exceptional quality wines from the world’s finest producers, at a great value. The wine’s richness and velvety texture is owed to the six months it spent in French Oak before being bottled. Bodega Catena Zapata was established in 1902 and has evolved into one of the world’s most revered wineries racking up numerous awards for its portfolio of wines, annually. Today the Catena Institute of Wine, in conjunction with the Catena Enology and Viticulture team, has the ambitious mission of making Argentine wines that continue to find a place among the best in the world and of advancing Argentina’s winemaking regions for another 100 years. Morrisons also won two bronze medals for other Argentina-produced wine entries.

Finca Sophenia’s Altosur Malbec, the final Best In Show winner from Argentina, is produced in the highly coveted highlands of Gualtallary in the Tupungato subregion of Mendoza. On the nose, this deeply dense, dark Malbec’s aroma is beefy and purposeful with plum and sloe fruits emerging in purer form as the wine breathes with time in a glass or decanter. In place of overt tannins and intrusive acidity there is a kind of sappy, stemmy freshness, combining both texture and acidity to great success, delivering the fruit’s notable energy and charm in the mouth. Altosur Malbec is harvested during March and April and is fermented in stainless steel tanks with selected yeasts at a controlled temperature between 24 and 16°C.

Founded in 1997, Finca Sophenia is an estate winery recognised as one of the highest quality wine producers in Argentina that began selling their wines in 2004 and are currently in more than 25 countries. All the wines are made with grapes from a 130-hectare estate first planted in 1997 and 1998 at the foot of the Andes mountain range in Gualtallary, Tupungato. This area has the ideal microclimate for the slow ripening of the grapes, with a thermal amplitude that allows a high concentration of aromas and flavours to be achieved. In turn, the small terroir of Gualtallary gives its wines one of the most unique profiles in Argentina, distinguishing them as some of the freshest and most mineral in the country. This combination of altitude, cold climate and sandy and rocky soils results in an ideal natural acidity that gives the wines their intensity, elegance, great structure and unique tannic textures. Finca Sophenia’s other wine entries won three silver medals and two bronze medals.

All three Best In Show wines featured in this article were also highlighted as ‘best in value’ for their respective categories at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards.