CityLife

Gaucho's Argentine 'house' wines impress

Gaucho's Argentina's wine region map

GAUCHO has long been a CityLife fave. We made it Manchester restaurant of the year, after all, in 2007, and it has hardly lost its edge.

That applies to the voluminous wine list, packed full of Argentinian treasures that complement the ceviches and steaks that are the reason for frequenting the cowhide-covered eaterie in St Mary’s Street.

Despite the sommelier training each member of staff undergoes, that 199-strong list can be a bit intimidating for the novice. Hence my interest in the London-based chain’s specially-produced range of wines called Terruno.

Terruno translates as terroir and each of the nine bottles masterminded by director of wines Phil Crozier is designed to reflect the grape style and the place it is grown within Argentina – fruit at a premium, oak influence restrained.

Typical grassiness

The nine (with one top-end exception) are priced between £17.50 and £22.75 in the restaurant and between £8.35 and £10.85 in the retail arm, Cavas de Gaucho.

A branch of this wine boutique will eventually open next door to the Manchester restaurant, but for the moment you can order by mail order from London.

Visit gauchorestaurants.co.uk /wineboutique. Or enjoy a particular wine with your meal and via an informative card system (they even include the height at which ther grapes grown) you can book it at your table. What of the wines then?

Argentine stalwart grapes torontes, bonarda and malbec all feature. Prices are from the shop and are about double in the restaurant. The Torrontes from Cafayate in Salta (1750m) lacked real aroma and was slightly sweet despite its typical grassiness (£8.35).

Oily, ripe apricotish

I preferred the oily ripe apricotish Viognier from high altitude Lujan de Cuyo in Mendoza (850m). It copes particularly well with ceviches, those lime and chillied cured seafood dishes. It costs £10.50.

But it was the Terruno reds that took the plaudits, even though we accompanied them with cured meats rather than rare slabs of Argentine steaks.

I loved the sweet liquorice fruit of the Luigi Bosca-made 2006 Tempranillo (£10.25), a grape variety transposed triumphantly from its native Spain and another Mendoza wine, the deeply plummy Malbec (£10.25), but for 60p a bottle more the Merlot-Malbec blend was the star.

Minty, chocolatey complexity and a lingering finish. Bravo Gaucho!