I bought a bottle of Lambrusco (Mendoza) and a bottle of Trebbiano (Lujan de Cuyo) for tonight’s dinner at a friend’s place from a local wine shop here in Buenos Aires. No English on the labels, so they aren’t exporting the stuff. My usual store was closed on Sunday, so I ended up somewhere else. Trying to explain that I was looking for interesting things / grapes and not wanting the usual (malbec, oaky chardonnay) took him out of his initial comfort zone. I also like to support wineries that break the typical wine profiles. …
It is now tomorrow (I didn’t post the above nor finish the post before going out). Based upon my now limited experience of trying Italian varietals produced in Argentina, my experience will remain limited until further notice. The Trebbiano I could have almost mistaken for an older white wine past its prime. It was a 2015, quite viscous and over-ripe. In typical Argentine fashion, some of the guests just put ice in their wine and so it was fine for them. As for the Lambrusco, it sort of reminded me (but not as bad) as one of the wines from Chile with a cat on the box. Over-ripe and flat, but not wholly offensive.
I also had purchased a rosado of Malbec - he was steering me to a different one but when I asked about the one I eventually purchased (after he said it was more “mineraly”) - I asked “estilo mas frances?” When he answered affirmatively, that was my choice. It was by far, my favorite.