This red grape is called Bonarda Argentina or Argentine Bonarda and it is closely related to the Corbeau Noir or Douce Noir from France and the Californian Charbono.
It was previously confused with the Italian Bonarda but recent ADN tests have proven they are different varieties. Nowadays just Argentina produces varietal wines with this type of grape.
Bonarda has been planted in Argentina since the beginning of its wine production. It was traditionally used for blending because of its dark deep red colour and its soft tannins.
Modern viticulture has rediscovered this variety and grants great Bonarda varietal wines with a personality on its own. It is also a great partner for blending, especially with Malbec, offering a real Argentinean experience!
Its colour is ruby red with violet or purple hues. It results in juicy, vibrant wines with very well integrated acidity and alcohol.
It has distinctive fruity aromas -mainly raspberries, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, plums and cassis- with an herbal hint, like roses, mint, pine tree and spicy notes.
It is a pleasant and easy to drink red wine with great body and a velvety feel on the mouth that goes well with very diverse food. It matches perfectly with chicken, beef, pork or even greasy fishes like salmon. Being an Argentine red wine you will never go wrong offering it for a barbecue. Its spicy notes go well with Middle Eastern dishes and even with exotic Asian bittersweet recipes. Overall, it is a great companion for pizza, pasta and hamburgers, so you can enjoy it on a daily basis and in all kind of contexts.
Bonarda is the second most planted red variety in Argentina with 18500 hectares, after Malbec that counts with 44.000 hectares nationwide.
Mendoza has 83% of the Bonarda production in Argentina with more than 15.000 hectares. Inside Mendoza we can also distinguish mayor plantation areas, which are San Martin (3777 ha), Lavalle (2189 ha) and Rivadavia (1868 ha).
They are all lower areas (700 masl) with dry hot weather. More than 4000 of the Bonarda vineyards in Mendoza are more than 40 years old, which offers an interesting quality of grapes.
In the last years, Bonarda wines have reached excellent scores from wine critics and at contests.
Don’t miss the opportunity to discover this rare red gem from Argentina.
We invite you to make a toast with Bonarda to celebrate our Mendoza Wine Harvest Festival 2021!
Every year we offer beautiful events to praise the work of our people producing wine.
Due to COVID-19, this year Mendoza will celebrate its Wine Harvest with an online edition, which allows us to invite the entire world to join us!
Watch our Wine Harvest Festival Special Film on Saturday, March 6th, at 10pm (Mendoza Time) and get to know more about this great Mendoza tradition at https://vendimia.mendoza.gov.ar/
By Carolina Suárez Garcés and María Laura Ortiz
ProMendoza
Photo credits:
Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura and Winifera