DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA

My great grandmother, Josefa Solanz Meuthen, was born in Aragon, Spain. She was married to a German soldier who fought in the First World War. When she became a widow, she moved with her two sons to Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was the first woman in my family who became an immigrant and made it on her own in a foreign country.

Eight years ago, I did the same thing as my great grandmother, but the other way around, I left Argentina. I came as an immigrant to America. Though it has not been easy all the time, I’m very happy to be in America as this is now my country, my land and my love.

In my family we all love wines, and usually enjoyed Argentine wines. But, believe me, Argentina is more than Malbecs, steaks and tango...we are very lucky to have very important wine regions located in the northern provinces of Mendoza, San Juan, La Rioja and Salta.

Most of the Argentine wine production is in the province of Mendoza, due to its high altitude, low humidity, lack of insects, fungi and other common grapes diseases that usually affect vineyards. This allows cultivating grapes with little or no pesticides and that’s how most of the Argentine wines today are basically organic wines.

Now going back to my immigrant status, in Argentina our wines are a result of other immigrants like me, who came from Europe after the First World War. They brought with them different varieties of grapes that were originally cultivated in the Old Continent.

The French brought Auxerrois, which later became known as Malbec, the Italians brought the Bonarda and later we started producing the Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and other varietals that are less known, but still good to try.

So today I will not speak about the traditional Malbecs, but I want to share with you the powerful white wine: Torrontes.

This white wine grape was originally a Spanish grape, a variety from Galicia that was brought by the Spanish Missionaries that landed in Argentina and it was then produced in the provinces of Salta, San Juan and La Rioja. This type of grapes thrives in cold dry conditions and is a distant relative of the Tarrantes grape, that you could find in the South of Italy. It has a low acidity, smooth texture and it usually has a peach, orange and apricot aromas. It's golden, greenish color and full body make the Torrontes a perfect white wine for spring and summer time.

Torrontes could be paired with spicy Thai food, Indian food, smoked meats, mild cheeses and of course with any kind of seafood.

Finish your work day, come home, take off your shoes, open the door of your backyard and bring your chilled glass of Torrontes and just enjoy the rest of your evening letting the Torrontes bring you the spirit of faraway lands.

Don’t cry for me Argentina...
You have Malbecs and Torrontes.
You should not cry because you have the best!