Category: Wine

All things vino

Decanter: South America’s winemakers take flight

Winemakers in South America are embarking on a new era – one of quiet self-confidence and curious self-discovery, bringing forth some of the most exciting and individual wines yet.

Distinctive regional personality is at the core of this new movement and it highlights a strong departure from the varietal – and style-driven wines that dominated the South American wine scene in the early 2000s.

As the role and influence of foreign consultants diminishes, there’s a new breed of ‘flying winemakers’ on the ascent – natives who are shaping the wines and industry in South America, and beyond.

Read the full article in Decanter.

October 17, 2023
World of Fine Wine: The emerging Grand Crus of South America

There has never been a greater focus on the idiosyncrasies and individual identities of South American terroir. The top wines of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay reflect a growing movement towards showing regionality over variety, and their winemakers are championing the top sub-regions through ever-more focused expressions.

With this riveting explosion of terroir-driven wines, there are a handful of wine regions that have come to the fore for their supreme quality but also, and perhaps more profoundly, their distinctive regional identity.

Appellations in evolution

Being part of the ‘New World’ can be both a blessing and handicap. While the lack of stringent rules can offer great creative freedom, it also begs the question whether no formal classification impedes chances of global recognition and reaching the upper echelons of the fine wine market.

There is no formality of a Cru, Growth or Pago system in South America, instead the wines are free of ranking — labelled only by variety, vintage and region. Conceptually, however, the wines have gone through a monumental evolution in the last three decades.

For full article, read on The World of Fine Wine.

October 17, 2023
Decanter: Cabernet Franc Panel Tasting

September 2023 Edition.

Cabernet Franc is undoubtedly a rising star of the Americas. Although still niche, it has been steadily rising in the
ranks and playing a greater role in each of the major wine countries. Its leafy, peppery, fresh, fragrant style can offer the ideal counterpart to the richer styles of heavyweight champion varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Tannat and Merlot.

Read the full article on Decanter.

October 17, 2023
Club Oenologique: Rising stars of South America

Summer 2023 Edition, Club Oenologique

A new generation of winemakers are pushing the boundaries in South American wine. Pioneering new — and ever more extreme — viticultural regions, delving into unusual grape varieties, and diving deep into a kaleidoscope of orange, pink and sparkling wines.

There has never been a more innovative time in South American wine, but nor have the wines even been so refined. This generation of winemakers aren’t only looking onwards and upwards to create new wines, but also taking an introspective look and reviving the heritage wines and varieties of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

While there are many commercial wineries seeding great change in the wine scene, there has also been a blossoming of smaller, family-run projects putting quality and authenticity at the core of their mantra. It is here, in the family-sized projects, where we are also seeing women taking on a greater role — both in the cellar and managing the nuts and bolts of business.

These are ten projects which might not be on your radar yet, but certainly should be. They are at the forefront of the thrilling wine scene in South America — driving change with energy and conviction, not afraid to dare to do something new but equally at ease with redefining the classics.

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July 17, 2023
Decanter: South American Chardonnay Tasting
The wine-producing countries of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay are making some seriously exciting wines, so we asked regional expert Amanda Barnes to blind taste a line-up of premium Chardonnays. Quality is higher than ever, she says, with balanced wines in myriad styles waiting to be discovered.

Only in the last decade has South American Chardonnay become something to get excited about. But, as this tasting reaffirmed, it really is worth getting excited about – especially at the premium end, with complex and engaging wines coming from the coast, desert, mountains and even the wind-beaten steppes of Patagonia. This impressive surge in quality is ultimately down to the intellectual journey that South America’s winemakers have been on: from their fastidious research into the multitude of soil types and microclimates (even within the same vineyard) to a much more mature approach to winemaking and an increasingly deft hand when it comes to oak ageing. My standout Chardonnay producers in this tasting all used oak (barrels and foudres) to frame their wines, but none of the wines were overshadowed by oak as they may have been a decade ago. Instead, most of the top wines shone for their fruit purity and elegance.

Read the full article in Decanter, June 2021
May 21, 2021
Decanter: Explore Patagonia wine routes

Published in Decanter, December 2020

If you’re planning your next great wine holiday, here’s somewhere for your list. Go bold, go big: a week-long tour in the wilds of southern Chile and Argentina will reward adventure seekers and wine lovers alike. Amanda Barnes shares her itinerary for the ultimate road trip through a land of natural wonders and equally adventurous wines.

Patagonia inspires adventure. Spreading 1 million km2 across the southern tip of Chile and Argentina, this wild and untamed land is blissfully remote, with breathtaking landscapes that will enchant the most intrepid explorers. From its hanging glaciers and jaw-dropping mountain spires to its snow-capped volcanoes and cobalt-blue lakes. Patagonia’s remarkable landscapes have captivated the adventurous for hundreds of years.

Read the full article on Decanter.

Read more about the wine regions of Patagonia in the South America Wine Guide

March 18, 2021
Decanter: Brazil’s best wine routes

Published in Decanter, October 2020

As the Brazilian wine scene gathers momentum, wine tourism across this huge country is flourishing. Amanda Barnes recommends three fascinatingly diverse regions to explore, with tips on wineries to visit, where to stay and where to eat.

Serra Gaucha: The mecca of Brazilian wine

The heartland of Brazilian wine, with almost half of the country’s vineyards, Serra Gaucha rose to its current status after the mass Italian immigration of the late 19th century. At the time, families from all over Europe made their way to the new world with the promise of plenty of land and new opportunities.

Read the full guide, including the wine routes of Santa Catarina and Serra da Mantiqueira at Decanter.

Read more about Brazilian wine in Amanda Barnes’ South America Wine Guide

March 18, 2021
Decanter: Focus on Luján de Cuyo

Published in Decanter June 2020

Producers in this heartland of Argentinian Malbec credit the identity and diversity of their wines to the old vines they nurture. It’s a region where tradition is preserved and protected, even as tastes evolve and new styles emerge, discovers Amanda Barnes.

The headquarters of Malbec and Argentina’s wine industry, Luján de Cuyo may not be garnering the same buzz as emerging wine regions in the Uco valley and Patagonia, but it is very much the heart and mind of Argentina’s wine industry – and it has at its feet some of the oldest vines in the country.

When you pull into Luján de Cuyo, driving 20 minutes south from Mendoza city, an enormous metal sculpture of a Malbec leaf announces that you’ve arrived at the tierra de Malbec. While arguably all of Argentina’s wine regions can claim to be a ‘land of Malbec’, no region has quite as big a stake to this claim as Luján – which has more than 15,500ha under vine, more than half of it Malbec. Luján alone has more Malbec vines than all of France. Claiming almost a fifth of all of Argentina’s Malbec vineyards, it was here in Luján that the story of Argentina’s famed Malbec began.

When Michel Aimé Pouget first planted Malbec in 1853, in what is now a paved-over block in Mendoza city centre, it changed the landscape of Argentinian wine from a sea of Criolla (the ‘founding’ varieties originally brought in by Spanish colonists) to a land of exotic French and European grapes.

Read the full article on Decanter: Lujan de Cuyo profile.

March 18, 2021
SevenFifty: Exploring the wines of Uruguay

Published in SevenFifty.Daily in January 2020

With Tannat and Albariño as lead stars, the country is making some of the most distinctive wines in South America.

Nestled between Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay is the fourth-largest wine producer in South America—its output in 2018 was 18 million liters. Although the bonds of tango and carnival link it culturally to Argentina and Brazil, respectively, the wine production of Uruguay is unique on the continent.

Shaped by a mild, Atlantic climate, Uruguay is more comparable to European wine regions than its Latin American neighbors, which have continental, Pacific, or subtropical influences.

“Uruguay reminds me more of Portugal—a small place with a maritime climate on the Atlantic Ocean, with variable weather,” says Hans Vinding Diers, who is a consultant winemaker at Bodega Oceánica José Ignacio in Maldonado, and has made wine on four continents. “You can also compare Uruguay to Bordeaux, as it has the same Atlantic influence.”

This Old World climate in the New World is part of the reason buyers are getting excited about Uruguayan wine; there’s also the thrill of discovering something new. “What we love about Uruguayan wine is its potential to become a major player in the South America wine map,” says Julio Robledo, a co-owner of Grand Cata, a wine store in Washington, D.C., that specializes in Latin American producers. “There is still much to see and discover from Uruguay, and diversity is the key. Many of our customers have a certain idea about Uruguay and Tannat, but when they taste a new bottle or a new grape from Uruguay, they definitely feel surprised by the quality.”

Read the full article online at SevenFifty.Daily

Read more of Amanda Barnes articles on Uruguay at South America Wine Guide

March 18, 2021
The Telegraph: Travel feature on Sonoma

Published in The Telegraph, September 2019

With its Mediterranean climate and more than 200 days of sunshine each year, California is the greenhouse of the US, where fruits and vegetables grow to sumptuous perfection – including wine grapes. Home to more than 80 per cent of the United States’ wine production, California’s contribution is bigger than that of most countries and with a dizzying 3,900 wineries to explore, you would need a lifetime to visit them all.

The state’s dramatic coastline, stretching some 840 miles from Oregon to Mexico, is only one ingredient in California’s varied wine landscape. Mountain ranges, lakes and bays, volcanoes and dry desert plains combine to offer myriad climatic and geological influences. As a result there is a wealth of wine styles there so diverse that more than 100 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) have been established to differentiate the unique properties of each wine region…

Read more online.

October 30, 2019