New Argentina Producer to visit Leek

With a complete change to our regular Wine Club monthly 'Wine by Style' tastings, I am happy to say that we are now taking bookings for a tutored tasting to be held by one of our newest producers, Domaine Jean Bousquet of Argentina.

This will be held at the shop, in Russell Street, on Friday 21st May and we kick off at 8pm.

Frenchman Jean Bousquet (third generation of a wine-growing family) travelled thousands of miles to find his 'optimum' vineyard location, having bought his own first vineyard at the age of only twenty three in Caracassonne.

In Mendoza, Argentina, in the late nineties, he found a site with, in his words, 'idyllic wine-growing precipitation and temperatures, mild during the day and cool at night...situated at a good altitude (1200m above sea level) with fresh air, few funguses, and very permeable sandy and rocky soils...these great attributes give the grapes the possibility to attain an optimum maturation without the risk of rotting and without having to use fungicides.'

Indeed, the entire range of wines are produced organically, and all speak volumes about their cool climate vineyard sites and gentle handling, with enormous elegance and finesse.

Bousquet vineyard in Winter

In France, Jean had bought 140 hectares of abandoned vineyards and twenty years later was producing high quality wines under the Domaine de Lalande name, based on single varietals such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In Mendoza, he began totally from scratch, planting 110 hectares of virgin vineyards at Tupungato, in the Uco Valley, in 1997 and building a brand new winery.


Lisa Reynauld, who will be visiting Leek to guide us through the Bousquet wines, took the photo below, entitled simply on their website, as 'The Andes and the office'.


Like any Argentinian producer, there is a focus on Malbec (and the Gran Reserva Malbec, with claims to being a 'liquid Aston Martin' promises to be good) but we will also taste a couple of whites, a rosé, a great Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon and the quite delicious Dulce Malbec (made in the same way as, and not dissimilar in style, to Port).

Lisa, Jean's daughter in law, will guide us through a range of eight of the Domaine Jean Bousquet wines.

Tickets cost £10 each, and we advise booking early to avoid disappointment. Give us a call at the shop on 01538 382408 or drop us an email at info@wineandwhisky.com. We accept most credit and debit cards over the phone and will send your tickets through the post.

Visit the Domaine Jean Bousquet website at http://www.jeanbousquet.com/

Another of Lisa's photos taken at sunrise