While in Argentina this past February, I experienced two new (to me) varietals.  In a previous post I mentioned the white wine Torrontes.  The other wine I was introduced to is the red varietal, Bonarda.  Until recently, it was the most planted varietal in Argentina, now surpassed by Malbec.

The Bonarda grape is supposedly from Piedmont, Italy, where it is very rare to find now. This grape was used for bulk production of table wines until recently, when some reputable wineries produced a varietal wine from it.

While touring the Argentinian wineries, we came upon a mobile bottling plant that just happened to be getting Bonarda ready for shipment. 
 
 

After our tour we got to sample the wine.  This is my take on this intensely fruity wine.

We had two styles of Bonarda, one a light-bodied fruity wine, full of cherry and plum flavors with light tannins and moderate acidity.  The other style we had was fruit from older vines that was highly concentrated and when oak aged produced a big, fruity, dense and tannic wine, with deep color and fig and raisin characteristics.  Yummmmmm!  Very food friendly and affordable. 

We recently added this wine to our portfolio.  Why not try one?

--Marie Griffin, Northwest Florida Wine Supervisor