Torrontés
Argentina's aromatic white speciality — beautifully aromatic, slightly viscous dry wines drunk as aperitifs. Three distinct varieties share the name; torrontés Riojana is the most aromatic.
About the grape
Torrontés is a speciality of Argentina, where it can make beautifully aromatic, slightly viscous dry wines that are drunk as aperitifs. Crucially it is NOT a single variety but three distinctly different ones, all indigenous to Argentina: torrontés Mendocino (not highly thought of); torrontés Sanjuanino (also unexceptional, planted mostly in the province of San Juan); and torrontés Riojana, the most aromatic and highest-quality of the three, often grown in the high-elevation vineyards of the province of Salta. DNA typing suggests torrontés Riojana is a white-skinned natural cross of muscat of Alexandria and the red grape mission (listán prieto), both brought to the Americas in the sixteenth century by Spanish missionaries and conquistadores.
