Domaine Bousquet Organic Red Wines with Argentine Christmas cuisine

If it seems like we’ve been on a Domaine Bousquet organic wine kick lately, well, we have! Why? Well, the wines are certifiably affordable, accessible, and awesome for the planet and people because they are actually certified organic, certified regenerative agriculture, and a certified B Corp. All of that adds up to wines we want to share with friends and family this holiday season! Most of the wines are under $20 and as they are the number one organic Argentine winery exported, you should be able to find them, too. 

Since we were already planning on featuring Argentine Christmas cuisine to pair with Domaine Bousquet sparkling wine for yesterday’s post with the World Wine Travel writers who have virtually been traveling in South America in 2023 (see the list below), we wondered what we might have around from Argentina that would also be fun to try. We decided to stick with wines from Domaine Bousquet (but stay tuned for more wines from South America including some that are certified Fair Trade!) Since we were doing smoked ham piononos, I told Sue that it’s too bad that South America isn’t known for its pinot noir. And then I found a bottle of pinot from Domaine Bousquet from a ZOOM event that I had to miss because I was teaching. 

Sue Hill takes notes on my laptop: she is enthusiastic about Domaine Bousquet’s sustainability and price to quality ratio

In 2023, Domaine Bousquet celebrates 25 years of making organic wine. It all started when third-generation winemaker Jean Bousquet took a vacation in 1990 to Argentina, where he fell in love with high altitude, remote Gualtallary Valley, in the Tupungato district of the Uco Valley in Argentina’s Mendoza region. 

Bousquet sold everything, including the family winery in near Carcassonne Southern France, and invested in the barren, sandy, semi-desert Gualtarry Valley. By barren, I mean there were no vineyards there, and not much of anything else in terms of infrustrure in the region.

“You know you’re making the biggest mistake of your life, don’t you?” said the real estate broker  in 1997 when Bousquet purchased almost 1,000 acres.

“What are you doing?” asked his daughter Anne, an economist by profession living in the US.

“Buying a beach?” Anne teased. “All sand, no sea?”

But what the affordable property did have was water, which Bousquet accessed with a well that went nearly 500′ deep and which taps into water from the nearby snowy Andes. Once he had water, the sandy soil, the near constant breezes, and the extreme diurnal shifts made the area perfect for growing wine grapes organically, and make a good living at it too as the region combining the best of  his French vineyards high acidity and a cool climate with the New World’s warmth and fruit-forward wines.

Over time, Bousquet sold off all but about 200 acres of the original almost 1k which helped raise the money he needed to get the fledgling project off the ground, and in 1995, he released his first vintage. 

Following a 2002 visit to her dad, Bousquet’s daughter Anne and her husband Labid al Amiri invested Domain Bousquet. When devaluation of the Argentine currency made land prices cheap and Argentine exports competitive, they were able to further develop the vineyards and the winery, and in 2005, al Ameri joined Bousquet full time, and in 2008 joined, with the couple becoming full owners in 2011.

While growing grapes organically and making wine with a reduced carbon footprint makes sense for planet and profits, Anne and Labid went beyond to include the third leg in the stool: people– seeking to co-create economic sustainability for the surrounding community including infrastructure like roads and workforce training. 

Today, Domaine Bousquet has a modern winery, hospitality area, and restaurant with 667 acres planted under vine. In their 25 years, they’ve moved beyond certified organic grapes to achieve the first Regenerative Organic Certification outside of the US, and the fourth worldwide. In 2022, they earned B Corp status which testifies to their commitment to all three legs of that stool. Read more about Domaine Bousquet’s wines, soils, and agronomist Franco Bastias here.

Anne Bousquet and her husband Labid al Amir spend one week or more each month at the winery in Tupungato, and the rest of the year in Miami where they live with their school age daughter and where they can manage exports and imports, especially to the important US market. Read more about Anne Bousquet here from our Women’s history Month story.

Wines available in the US currently are the following:

• Premium reds, whites and rosé $13
• Virgen USDA-certified reds, white and rosé $13 (read on! reviewed below)
• Reserve reds and whites $18 (reserve Pinot Noir reviewed below)
• Sparkling Charmat: Chardonnay-Pinot Noir Brut / Noir-Chardonnay Brut Rosé  $13 (link) 
• Sparkling Traditional: Chardonnay-Pinot Noir Brut and Rose $18 (link)
• Gaia White blend and Gaia Red blend $18/ $20 (link to red)
• Gran Reserve Chardonnay and Gran Reserve Malbec $20/ $25 (coming soon!)
• Alavida Kosher Red blend (link) 
• Ameri: Red Blend and Malbec $37 (coming soon!)

So what other red wines from Domaine Bousquet would be fun to try with the piononos? And did we have anything that might go well with Christmas cookies also?   

2021 Domaine Bousquet Reserve Pinot Noir

Since wines without sulfites tend to be fresh and fruity, we thought the Domaine Bousquet Virgen would be a good choice. When I saw I actually had two vintages, and since the general thinking about non-sulfite wines is that they won’t last as well, we thought we’d put the theory to the test by comparing the two. Scroll down to see: did it hold up over time? 

Argentine Christmas Cuisine

BonusFinder says American Christmas side dish favorites are rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and macaroni and cheese which makes sense because most of the US is cold in December. However, in South America, it is hot and summery at Christmas time, so favorite Christmas dishes reflect the warm weather like a rolled sandwich called a Pionono with potato salad. Here in coastal California, it’s balmy and warm in December so this Agentinean menu offers a great alternative that’s also ideal leading up to the big meal, for holiday gatherings with friends, especially for brunch, or to use up leftovers.

• Picada (aka charcuterie)
  including blue cheese, pate, Amsterdam Aged gouda, Irish sharp,  cranberry cheddar, baked lemon ricotta
• Pionono (traditional rolled sandwich)
  with half smoked ham, half tuna, tomatoes, cheddar, parsley, blue cheese
• Potato salad (recipe)

Plus two of Sue’s famous Christmas cookies; see recipes below! I can’t wait to make more of these!

Domaine Bousquet reds

Domaine Bousquet Organic Red Wines 

• 2021 Reserve Pinot Noir 
• 2021 Virgen Red Blend 
• 2020 Virgen Red Blend 
• samples for my review 

2021 Domaine Bousquet Reserve Pinot Noir

2021 Domaine Bousquet Reserve Pinot Noir

ABV: 13.5%
SRP: $18
Grapes: organic Pinot Noir

Appearance:  Pale and translucent, raspberry, pale pink rim, 

Aroma: Lovely, rose petals, potpourri, raspberry, cherry, lavender, 

Palate: Light and refreshing, raspberry, tart cherry, sage, chaparral, woodsy, pine, not super complex, but a very nice wine, light and bright and fresh, 

Pairing: Would be a great Thanksgiving wine, No surprise here but the wine was fabulous with the pate, good with Aged gouda, Irish sharp,  and the cranberry cheddar on our cheese plate. The ham and the spongecake and the wine are oh so perfect together, so well balanced and enjoyable, the sweet peas and corn in this creamy potato salad were so nice with the wine, the hazelnut shortbread and the wine was fantastic with the wine, with the chocolate dipped part it was not as fabulous, 

2021 Domaine Bousquet Virgen Red Blend with Sue Hill and piononos

2021 Domaine Bousquet Virgen Red Blend

ABV: 14%
SRP: $13
Grapes: 

Appearance:  Deep, dark, dense, plum with a fushia rim, 

Aroma: Blueberry, cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, lavender, potpourri, herbs de Provence, forest floor, cinnamon, 

Palate: Tart cherry, very tart cherry, sage, rhubarb, Dr. Pepper, grippy tannins, pine tar, juniper, graphite

Pairing: Potato salad and the wine is fabulous, the blue cheese and the wine works nicely together, and OMG with the ham piononlo all of the flavors of the ham were enhanced by the wine. The richness of the pate is cut through by the wine, tannins and acidity work well with food. The chocolate in the hazelnut shortbread melts and the nuts stand out when paired with this wine. It is heaven!!! The brightness of the fruit in the wine, combined with the spice in the cookie was out of this world. The wine and the roasted spiced nuts are very good together. While the espresso pecan ball was fine with the wine, I really wanted cognac or something else to go with this cookie. 

Domaine Bousquet Organic Red Wines

2020 Domaine Bousquet Virgen Red Blend

Drink this wine and enjoy it, it was just fine a year older,  a wine can save sans sulfites, 

ABV: 14.3%
SRP: $13
Grapes: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, 

Appearance:  Deep, dark and dense, ruby, cherry rim, 

Aroma: Rose, potpourri, plum pipe tobacco, cinnamon stick

Palate: Tart cherry, rhubarb, balsamic, earthy sweetness, very drinkable, 

Pairing: This non sulfite wine is so fresh and nice with the rich eggy foods, great with the potato salad and the sweet peas and corn, great with the tomato umami in the pionono and the layers of different flavors in the dish. It all stands out and is enhanced by the wine. We were amazed by the complexity and enjoyment of flavors in not only the food and the wine, but how well they worked together. his is a very nice food pairing wine. Very nice with the hazelnut chocolate dipped cookie, it was so good together, nice with the spicy gingersnaps but kind of overwhelming the cookie needs the chocolate.

Here’s two recipes for you followed by the year’s articles about South America in review. Happy Holidays from Sue and I, your favorite Wine Predators! 

Domaine Bousquet reds with Sue’s cookies