South America continues to impress me. No, I’m not referring to their soccer teams (although those are impressive as well). I’m referring to the continent’s continued ability to produce high quality wines at low price points. It is hard for me to believe that these South American producers can continually put high quality wine on your local retailer’s shelves without charging more. I recently had the opportunity to renew and refresh my fascination with these well priced wines thanks to a few samples from Tercos Winery in Argentina’s increasingly popular Mendoza region.
The Mendoza wine region is located in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range. What makes Mendoza so special is its vineyards, which are planted at some of the highest elevations for grape vines in the world. The average site is located 1,970–3,610 feet (600–1,100 meters) above sea level (Thanks, Wikipedia!). A great majority of Argentina’s wine exports are from this 57,000 square mile Province, which is far and away the country’s most important wine region.
Tercos has deep roots in the Argentinean wine community. The winery was founded in 2004 by brothers Pedro and Patricio Santos, whose father is a gentleman by the name of Ricardo Santos, often referred to as “Mr. Malbec”. Ricardo Santos was one of the first to believe that.. Click here to read the full story
his home country of Argentina could produce world class wine, especially Malbec, and was the country’s first winemaker to export Malbec to the United States more than thirty years ago. Ricardo’s sons bring this tradition to their new winery, Tercos, with Patricio as winemaker and Pedro as head of marketing. While Malbec will likely forever remain a staple of both Mendoza and the Santos Family, I was exposed to some other familiar grapes that Tercos has incorporated into their portfolio.
In the glass the 2008 Tercos Sangiovese had strong spice notes with a hit of hot red pepper. After tasting the wine and going back to smell it, I believe that the “hot red pepper” aroma was related to the alcohol as much as a spice note, although I didn’t pick that up on the first whiff. The Sangiovese flavor starts with a tart, dried cranberry and develops into a peppered beef jerky finish. It reminds me of the jerky my grandfather would use when I was a kid, providing inspiration to keep going during our excruciatingly long backpacking trips. The wine has a decent acidity and a medium-long finish that is not overly dry. Unfortunately, that finish is slightly disjointed with a bit of extra heat from the alcohol. As is the case with many Sangiovese, this wine was helped by food, pairing very well with a truffle studded semi-hard cheese, Cacio Di Bosco Tartufo Il Forteto. The cheese helped fuse some of the disjointed elements, calm down the alcohol and in general, made the wine much more enjoyable. With or without cheese laced with fungus dug up by pigs (as truffles are), this wine is certainly respectable for the price, although I can’t say you should go out of your way to seek it out.
I don’t have a lot of experience with Bonarda and was excited to get an opportunity to try this wine. The grape calls the Puglia region of Italy its home, though Argentina has increasingly found success with the grape. Today, it trails only Malbec in terms of total area under vine. The dark, ink-colored 2008 Tercos Bonarda has a dark, smoky, almost brooding nose with strong hints of smoldering campfire. On the palate there is a subtle blackberry flavor but a stronger earthy, charcoal taste. Fruit is definitely not the main flavor of this wine. A little bit surprisingly, it has some distinct cognac-like qualities, although I hesitate to use that description because it can leave one with the impression of too much alcohol, which this wine absolutely does not have. This full-bodied Bonarda has exceptionally smooth, silky tannins, with a nice dry finish and a deliciousness factor that is a little uncommon in earthy wines. Additionally, there is a depth of flavor and complexity that is very rare in a $12 wine.
The 2008 Tercos Bonarda was easily the wine of the night and may be one of the best under $15 wines I’ve had in a long time.
If you’ve read my prior Cork’d posts, you know that I am an Oregon boy through-and-through. I practically bleed Oregon Pinot Noir. However, while Oregon may have my heart, South America is getting a large portion of my wine budget. It is hard to beat the quality for the price and these wines, especially the Bonarda, demonstrate that value perfectly.
