In recent years Argentina has endured military dictatorship followed by military defeat, imperfect stabs at democracy, the collapse of its currency and banking system, and now the loss of international confidence as the country defaults on its debt. In such circumstances, it is surprising that there is any Argentinian wine left for export - even more so that the bold Lurton brothers should have retained their bodega under the Andes in the Mendoza Valley, applying their expertise to its fertile soil, and earning what they can in foreign currency. But then these boys are global merchants, who produce wine in Chile, Australia, Spain and Uruguay as well as their native France, and who also take care to ensure that each wine is a local product.
The four Argentinians on offer from Corney & Barrow perfectly illustrate the Lurton technique. Though each is produced from a single grape varietal, the wines show a distinctively Argentinian character - a background aroma of dusty hills, wild flowers and horse-sweat, tightly knit like a story by Borges: the perfect accompaniments to suicide.
Inevitably, the Mendoza Valley supports a Chardonnay, since you can grow this anywhere and sell it everywhere. But this one is Chardonnay with teeth. Lightly oaked and less alcoholic than most white Burgundies, the wine nevertheless bites the throat with its rotting molars and breathes fire into all the tubes. Not for the faint-hearted, I would say.
The Pinot Gris is fresh, fruity, winsome - less homely than the Italian version, but with the settled, earthy flavours of the Mendoza soil. It received an enthusiastic endorsement from Sam the horse on account of its yeasty nose, and we gave it full marks for trying - though trying what, exactly?
With the Malbec, the Mendoza region comes into its own. This, the velvety black grape of Cahors, ripens beautifully around the artificial lake of the Rio Tunuyan. The Lurtons take half their grapes from that warm microclimate, and blend them with sharper products from cooler areas such as Tupungato and La Constancia - lovely names that also improve with drinking. The result is a perfect balance of fruit, colour and tannin, which I reckon will mature for many years. We drank it with the kidneys of our neighbour's calf, and it triumphed over the urine like a poised and witty lady deflecting some obscene remark.
The Bonarda grape is unusual outside Italy and Spain, but seemingly as suited to the Mendoza climate as the Malbec. This is a truly refreshing wine, slightly sweet, eminently drinkable, and with fistfuls of fruity flavours to cheer you on. Served in the boardrooms of Buenos Aires, it could help to get the country back on its feet by knocking the crooks off theirs.
