Argentina - Wine harvest a good one?

I'm sure our resident wine expert will know if this years harvest has been good or bad.
My own minuscule harvest has been a bit of a strange one. Earlier on it was looking as if it would be a very good one - in quantity at least. Then whether through drought or some other reason the grapes stayed small and were very slow to ripen.
Last years harvest started in earnest on Feb14th this years didn't start till a fortnight later....and even then it was only a small percentage that were ready. Still picking them at the moment but they are not as sweet as previous years. It's looking as if we shall match last years quantity or even overtake it but the quality is definitely not so good.

So what's the verdict from the professionals?

The Soybean season has had its ups and downs... first we got hit by a drought, but its been pouring down lately so it wont be all that bad. Too bad we now have to save up $$$ for these new darned mandatory insurance policies that Kristina wants us to have.....

:rolleyes:

The Soybean season has had its ups and downs... first we got hit by a drought, but its been pouring down lately so it wont be all that bad. :

The guy who rents some of our land sowed soya and it's looking pretty poor.......the neighbours has corn on theirs and it doesn't look too great either.....7/10 he said.

The guy who rents some of our land sowed soya and it's looking pretty poor.......the neighbours has corn on theirs and it doesn't look too great either.....7/10 he said.

Not too much rain over the past 3-4 months....? In any case, 7/10 aint all that bad considering the drought....

Getting serious, its still way tooo early to know how this harvest (2012) turned out. Remember that we are now pretty much in the middle of the harvest... many of the best reds are still on the vines. The outlook looks reasonable to good, depending on the micro climate... but for the best wines I need another 12-18 months until the first round of stuff is available to sample from the barrells..... everything else is bla bla bla.......

Thanks I had assumed the harvest was over.....that's what happens when you listen to the wife.

As for the soya....had a look the other day and the plants have perked up a lot since the rains came. ^

Volume is low this year, in the Cuyo reagions (Mendoza and neighbouring provinces), but as said above, it is too soon to say about quality.

Visiting Mendoza and Uco Valley for first time in a couple weeks, so expect to be sampling 2010 and some 2011 bottlings - what' s the current verdict on the past 2 years? Can anyone point me to good critical (English) reviews of the vintners in these areas?

I like 2010 more than 2011, although as I always say for the top wines the devil is in the details. Both years are good harvests, remember that Argentina is blessed with weather conditions that some of the Old World can only dream of.... so for everyday wines, I would just go with 2010 because the extra year in the bottle is always a positive.

For your Mendoza visits, here is a list of some of my favorite producers..... sorry I dont have time to get into all the details:

a) Benegas
b) Renacer
c) Rutini - La Rural
d) Familia Zuccardi
e) Atamisque
f) Durigutti Family Wines
g) Lamadrid

For more info on Mendoza, please see:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/argentina/560259-mendoza-mdz-ultimate-q-thread.html

Please note the thread is long running, so some info posted towards the beginning of the thread may be dated and/or not be accurate at this time....

I like 2010 more than 2011, although as I always say for the top wines the devil is in the details.

You say "the devil is in the details" about a lot of things, but I don't have time to find all the posts :D

You say "the devil is in the details" about a lot of things, but I don't have time to find all the posts :D

Sure do.... unless you want to get on the soap box and generalize, in real life there are a lot of grey areas, so you have to get into the very small details to separate the grain from the weeds..... :rolleyes: ;)

I will start using the grain & weeds more if you prefer this to the details and the Devil.... :p

You say "the devil is in the details" about a lot of things, but I don't have time to find all the posts :D
Search is you friend ;):D

ok... so which phrase do you guys suggest I use if you dont like my details & the devil option......?????

ok... so which phrase do you guys suggest I use if you dont like my details & the devil option......?????

I prefer weed. But I could care less about the grain. So I guess it's unclear in that phrase, which is the favored alternative.

Weed.....?

No thanks, proper Dutch blended tobacco for my pipe.

Else, a well aged Cohiba or Montecristo will do just fine.

Weed.....?

No thanks, proper Dutch blended tobacco for my pipe.


I use Danish Borkum Riff for mine....the Cherry flavour is rather nice.

I use Danish Borkum Riff for mine....the Cherry flavour is rather nice.

Borkum Riff..... ^

Cherry Flavour... :eek: :eek: :eek: :td: :td: :td: :mad: :rolleyes:

Borkum Riff..... ^

Cherry Flavour... :eek: :eek: :eek: :td: :td: :td: :mad: :rolleyes:

Smokes well while enjoying a glass of Gabutti Tempranillo. :D ^

Smokes well while enjoying a glass of Gabutti Tempranillo. :D ^

:rolleyes: :p

Weed smokes well with Doritos.

Weed smokes well with Doritos.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

If I put my moderator hat on I may just have to delete the above post..... :eek:

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

If I put my moderator hat on I may just have to delete the above post..... :eek:

What's wrong with mentioning Doritos in the discussion forum?

Nothing..... mentioning weed, however...... ;)