Organic Wines from Argentina’s Santa Julia and Domaine Bousquet

This month’s Wine Pairing weekend takes a select group of bloggers to Argentina with host Jeff Burrows.

I decided, in keeping with my New Year’s Resolution to focus on organic and biodynamic wines to do just that and feature two Argentinean wineries that are organic: Santa Julia and Domaine Bousquet paired with Sue’s homemade empanadas and a black bean chimichurri salad with dulce de leche from the instant pot for dessert. We also decided to pair up similar wines: two chardonnay, two malbec, and two Sauvignon blanc but form two wines in two locations at two price points.  On a subsequent night, I paired the two chardonnay with lobster with ravioli and nasturtium pesto and the reds with nine hour lamb made in the instant pot. All wines are samples for my review consideration and all opinions are my own without monetary compensation.

The two sets of wine couldn’t have been more different — and not just because of price but the style was completely different: the Santa Julia is very fruit forward and accessible while the Domaine Bousquet had a lot more complexity, and with the reds, a delightful earthy barnyard funk going on — that really loved the lamb.

Menu

Black bean chimichurri salad
Empanadas
Instant Pot Dulce de leche

Sue adjusted the chimichurri sauce by not adding as much parsley, and a bit more cilantro. We also placed this salad on a bed of salad greens and drizzled it with a bit more chimichurri sauce over the top. The salad is substantial and could be enjoyed as an entire meal.  You could also sprinkle a bit of toasted pumpkin seeds over the top to take it over the top.

Empanadas: For the filling Sue got creative with a bit of leftover mashed potatoes, and corn from the previous meal and some Spanish chorizo that was hanging around in the cupboard. There were two kinds of empanada. One was  green chili, cheese, corn, and potato. The other was spanish chorizo, sautéed with onion and garlic, potato, and green chili.

Organic Wines from Argentina

2018 – Santa Julia – Chardonnay – 13% alcohol – SRP $11
2017 – Domaine Bousquet – Reserve Chardonnay – 13.5% alcohol SRP $18

2017 – Santa Julia – Cabernet Sauvignon – 13.5% alcohol – SRP $11
2017 – Domaine Bousquet – Cabernet Sauvignon – 14.5% alcohol SRP $18

2017 -Santa Julia –  Malbec – 13.5% alcohol – SRP $11
2017 – Domaine Bousquet – Malbec – 14.5% alcohol – SRP $18

Organic Santa Julia 

Organic Domaine Bousquet 

We first met the wines of Domaine Bousquet last spring when we tasted and wrote about their Gaia blends which we loved. So many the sample invitation came, I responded with an enthusiastic YES.

According to the winery’s press materials, “Domaine Bousquet is Argentina’s largest producer of wines made exclusively from organically grown and certified grapes. The winery and a significant portion of the vineyards lie in the uppermost reaches of the Gualtallary Valley in Tupungato, within the larger framework of the Uco Valley – with Gualtallary increasingly identified as the source of some of Mendoza’s finest quality wines.”

2018 – Santa Julia – Chardonnay – 13% alcohol – SRP $11

Color: Pale yellow, straw

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, kiwi, golden delicious apple

Palate: Buttery creamy yet tart with  minerals on the back of the palate.

Pairing: Garlic makes this wine sing. It loved the richness in the avocado and chimichurri salad dressing. This yearns for butter and rich seafood, and was appeased by the lobster on the next night.

Of the Santa Julia wines, this was the best of the three.

2017 – Domaine Bousquet – Reserve Chardonnay – 13.5% alcohol SRP #18

Color – golden

Nose – vanilla, caramel, roasted apples, oak,

Palate – caramel, vanilla, roasted apples, caramel apple with roasted pecan on the finish.  toasted oak, even a roasted tea?????

Pairing –  The salad was beautiful with it: The garlic, the avocado, and the richness of the chimichurri sauce was lovely with the wine. The cheddar and chorizo filling was fun and playful with this wine. The super strong flavors were matched nicely with this white wine.

I thought of shrimp, shrimp scampi or lobster, It wants the rich seafood flavors drenched in butter, and while I didn’t drench the lobster it was a tasty pairing. Try Ceasar salad and calamari. It would also be great with fried oysters Louisianna style, eat them as an appetizer or in a poe boy with this wine.

This wine was not in our wheel house because we are not fans of this style. But if that is your desire, this is your wine, and with the right foods it’s really wonderful.

 

2017 – Santa Julia – Cabernet Sauvignon – 13.5% alcohol – SRP $11

Color – ruby red with a medium pink rim

Nose – menthol, fruit forward, mocha, it is only 13.5% but you can smell alcohol on the nose

Palate – thin, tart cherry fruit, tannic, dry minerality, fresh blueberry finish

Pairing – went well with mancheco and the Iberico cheese. I really liked it with a cheese we found called Tipsy Goat. This wine did not work so well with the salad, fine with the meat empanada and good with the green chilis in the green chili and cheese empanada. It liked the green chili aspect of the meal. With the right foods this wine becomes better.

2017 – Domaine Bousquet – Cabernet Sauvignon – 14.5% alcohol SRP $18
85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec

Color – Garnet with a pale pink or mauve ring

Nose – musky, barnyard, leather, ranching, ripe bing cherry,

Palate – a little bit of blue fruit not plum but fresh blueberry minerals and herbs cocoa finish, chocolate over dried cherries. You could enjoy this as a cocktail wine and be engaged with it. As it opens up, this wine becomes even better

Pairing – The muskiness made me yearn for pate. It likes cured meats.

This wine did not like the blue cheese at all. It was quite shocking at what a horrible combination it was. So don’t go putting blue cheese on your burger with this wine!

It did like the Spanish cheeses, the mancheco, iberico, and drunken goat.  This wine does great with our salad, it likes the beans, it likes the avocados, the chimichuri sauce, the garlic in the sauce, this wine can take on many flavors.

We really enjoyed this wine with our meal. With the empanadas there was a bit of bitterness, but a bitterness in a good way, like black walnuts can have a bitterness, the tannins in the wine were balanced nicely by the food. of the food brought out nice tannins in the wine

2017 -Santa Julia –  Malbec – 13.5% alcohol – SRP $11

Color – plum with a pink ring

Nose – very fruity, citric acid kind of sweet tart thing going on, Sue said “like the candy Now or Later” the tart taffy candy.

Palate – fruit forward, blue fruit, blueberry pie or jam, cooked blue fruit, quick mineral finish. It could work as a cocktail wine, but we felt we might grow tired of it. There is an acidity and harshness to this wine that can be tamed be certain foods.

Pairing: Strong cheeses bully the wine, it likes the mild cheeses much better, pizza, chicken, ribs, nothing too bold that will overtake the wine. It was alright with salami.  It really handled the nutty mild Spanish cheeses, which seemed to bring out a nice warm vanilla caramel finish to the wine. I imagined a pork sausage meal like a bratwurst or polish sausage dog. It was just alright with the salad, the garlic lingered too long when sipping this wine. It did really well with the chili cheese and corn empanada. It liked the sweetness of the corn which brought out nice baking spices in the wine. It also handled the chorizo in the empanada well.

2017 – Domaine Bousquet – Malbec – 14.5% alcohol – SRP $18
85% malbec, 5% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot, 5% syrah

The blend of the grapes in this wine balance out the Malbec well.

Color – garnet red with a light brilliant red ring

Nose – musky, herbs of sage and thyme or marjoram, I even found tarragon which Sue had a hard time getting to. I also got Egyptian licorice as well as cherry, ripe red fruit, raspberry, lavendar rose, rose geranium florals.

Palate -fruit forward, tart cherry, lingering mineral finish

Pairing – This wine was fabulous with the salami, the manchego brought out baking spices, the tipsy goat brought out a mocha, the iberico was all about the fruit in the wine. This wine went great with the blue cheese as well. So so good with the salad the savory of the salad went so beautifully with the sweet of the wine. It loved the richness of the avocado and the zing of the chimmicurri sauce.

At the end of the night we decided that there was a huge difference between the Bousquet and the Julia. The Julia is all about the fruit.

The Santa Julia is all about the party where as the Bousquet is more serious.

The Bousquet can stand up to a pair with many foods acting as an equal partner, where as the Julia is more of an escort to the food.

Join us at 8am Pacific for a twitter chat by following the hashtag #WinePW.
Next month we’re staying in South America for Uruguay! And we have more organic wine from Argentina as well as organic wine from Chile to share with you!

• Deanna from Asian Test Kitchen presents”Easy Thai Basil Chicken + Torrontes”
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “A Taste of Argentina”
• Jill from L’Occasion presents “All The Range: Not Just Malbec From Argentina“
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Carbonada Criolla + Zuccardi Q 2013 Tempranillo”
• David at Cooking Chat presents “Roasted Chimichurri Steak and Wines from Argentina”
• Cindy at Grape Experiences shares “Wine and Dine with Bodega Trivento Winemaker German di Cesare”
• Sarah at Curious Cuisiniere presents “Ñoqui con Tuco (Potato Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce) paired with Argentinian Wine”
• Michelle at Rockin Red Blog shares “Exploring Argentinian Wine with the Zuccardi Family”
• Jane at Always Ravenous presents “How to Pair Vegetarian Food with Argentine Wines”
• Jennifer at Vino Travels shares “Argentina Wines with Familia Zuccardi”
• Kat at Bacchus Travel and Tours presents “Exploring Argentina: Warm Wines for Cold Nights”
• Nicole at Somms Table shares “Catena Lunlunta Malbec and Steak with Chimichurri for Two“
• Nancy at Pull That Cork presents “Domaine Bousquet Reserve Wines & Savory Tray Bake“
• Martin at Enofylz Wine Blog shares “A Cross Cultural Food And Wine Pairing with Amado Sur”
• Rupal at Syrah Queen presents “Wines of Zuccardi – Malbec and Beyond”
• Steve at Steven’s Wine and Food Blog shares “Argentine Torrontes and Romesco Sauce”
• Gwen at Wine Predator shares “Go Organic in 2019 With Argentina’s Domaine Bousquet and Santa Julia“
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! presents “Party Guaranteed: Pulled Pork and Argentine Wine”