Bonarda

No longer just the standard lunchtime sip for Argentines, Bonarda and its succulently fruity charms are climbing the quality ladder

- WORDS & SELECTION PATRICIO TAPIA

Smooth, creamy, with luscious black fruit, Bonarda is a kitten that just wants to be petted. And there is no shortage of Bonarda kittens in Argentina: it's the third-most planted grape variety in the country - the first is Malbec, the second Cereza (one of the historic Criolla varieties) - and one of Bonarda's main, grower-appealing characteristics is its generous yields. It's especially the case in the warm, sunny vineyards of eastern Mendoza, where its many bunches can ripen to deliver that dose of creaminess and sweetness that are Bonarda's trademark.

Although Bonarda has been part of the Argentine wine landscape since the beginning of the last century, it wasn't entirely clear where it came from or what it was. Bodega Nieto Senetiner's winemaker Roberto González, a Bonarda expert, explains: 'In 2008, DNA studies were conducted and determined that Bonarda originates in Savoie and is [the same as] Douce Noir/Corbeau.'

González has been vinifying Bonarda at Nieto Senetiner since 1999 and is responsible for the first attempt at making a truly great Bonarda. In 2000, the winery launched Edición Limitada (now called Las Tortugas Estate - see opposite), a Bonarda that at the time was a giant in terms of ripeness and extraction, but has since been substantially refined and now even shows signs of freshness - a detail that's uncommon in the grape.

Freshness in his Bonardas is what winemaker Alejandro Vigil, a partner in the El Enemigo winery, has been searching for. Vigil has been studying Bonarda's behaviour and experimenting with different soils in eastern Mendoza, all planted with very old Bonarda vines. And from there, he's developed a series of four single-vineyard bottlings that are among the best examples of the variety today.