White Blend, 2020. La Puerta

In 1994, Julian Clusellas read a newspaper article about a property for sale 750 miles from where he and his wife lived in Buenos Aires. The property was some 10,000 acres and featured olive groves, a winery and an olive oil processing plant. Julian was an agricultural engineer, so he knew something about growing grapes, so he decided he was going to grow them here. Located in the Famatina Valley, the winery is the furthest from Buenos Aires in all of Argentina.

Javier Collovati was also an agricultural engineer who became an intern at La Puerta after college. Within a few months he decided he had to be a winemaker. But the location was so remote that he and Julian decided to fly in consulting winemakers from all over Argentina to learn what they could about making wine. Clearly, they paid attention because La Puerta is now one of the most decorated wineries in the country. The blend here is 70% Moscatel, one of the ancient grapes whose DNA is akin to Muscat, and 30% Torrontes, an alluring, exotic grape indigenous to Argentina. The combination is explosive. The Moscatel brings the musk and mineral components to the table and the Torrontes adds loads of spice and a tropical fruit basket.

There is just enough sweetness to let the orange blossom, mango and pineapple flavors shine through as the finish elicits delicate tangerine and citrus essences. The experience lends itself to a fruit plate, sugar cookies or raspberries served in Zabaglione, a lavish sauce made with simply egg yolks, sugar and Marsala.

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