Varieties like Malbec and Carmenere were European varieties used as modern attempts to create a market for Argentinian and Chilean wines. However, it’s their Criolla grapes that are the most unique and historical. Today, I’m exploring Argentinian Criolla varieties.
Criolla Varieties in South America
The first wine grape varieties to arrive from Europe in the Americas were predominantly Listan Prieto (País in Chile, Criolla Chica in Argentina or Mission in California) and Moscatel de Alejandria among a few others. These eventually got different names in each region and eventually crossed and mutated into other varieties like Chile’s native Tamarugal. These crossed varieties of European Vitis Vinifera grapes and sometimes the original imported European varieties themselves are categorized as Criolla grapes. Criolla is the same word as Creole in English, which is used to describe the people and culture of mixed African & European descent in the New World.
After many South American countries gained independence in the 19th century, countries like Chile and Argentina started gaining more influence in wine production from France and the various European immigrants who moved there. The old traditional winemaking, old Spanish varieties and Criolla grapes were left to the peasant class and to Pisco. Peruvian Pisco, for example, is made with primarily Criolla grapes.
However, there’s been a trend all over the world to recover and revive lost and indigenous varieties. In Chile, it’s primarily been a revival of Pais and Moscatel along with some of the varieties that originally came from France a long time ago that got lost in the shuffle like Cinsault, Carignan and Semillon.
Argentinian Criolla Grapes
In Argentina, more are also producing old French grapes like Semillon while some small independent/natural wine producers are trying to highlight Criolla grapes. However, one Criolla grape has been Argentina’s star white wine for years: Torrontés (Torontel in Chile). It’s still the most planted white variety in Argentina although it has been losing ground to Chardonnay. Although there is an unrelated Spanish white by the same name, Torrontés refers to a family of mainly 3 Criolla crosses of Moscatel de Alejandria with Pais and Moscatel with another unknown variety. In fact, almost all the main Criolla varieties have some connection to either Moscatel de Alejandria and/or Pais. The same crossing can produce genetically different varieties. Crosses can cross with crosses or their parents. It’s an incestuous mess. 
The most common and highest quality Torrontés is Torrontés Riojana. Any Argentinian wine you find in the US labeled Torrontés is Torrontés Riojana. It’s a fresh and floral aromatic variety that comes in different styles and from different places, but it’s most famous in the Salta wine region. It’s the only Criolla variety made by several larger, more commercial producers.
There are over 60 other known planted Argentinian Criolla grapes (more than 100 between Chile and Argentina). The next most popular is Cereza, which is the second most planted red/pink variety after Malbec, but it is rarely seen nowadays as a monovarietal wine, especially outside of Argentina, since it’s also used as a table grape, for vermouth or for bulk wine. It’s a pink-skinned variety that is also a cross between Moscatel de Alejandria and Pais. It produces light, fruity, and floral wines. In terms of its cultural importance, it’s a lot like Pais in Chile–an easy drinking wine of the campesinos that people drank by the jug.
Another widely planted Criolla grape is Criolla Grande, which is still as planted as Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. This is also yet again most likely a cross between Moscatel de Alejandria and Pais. Like Cereza, it’s a light, fruity, easy drinking, simple wine drunk mostly locally or put into bulk wines. It’s often blended with Cereza.
In addition to the 3 varieties above, I also found one more Criolla grape during my last trip to Mendoza. It’s called Canela, or Kanela. This is different from the previous three in that its parents are Moscatel de Frontignan (Muscat a Petits Grains) and Pais. Like Cereza, it’s more pinkish in color and also used as a table grape in addition to wine.
Let’s see if any of these wines are worth seeking out. I’ve never had any of these varieties except Torrontés, which I’m already a fan of.
Tasting Notes
2022 El Esteco Blend de Extremos Valles Calchaquíes Torrontés
This comes from two sub-regions of the Calchaquíes Valleys in the Salta region: Chañar Punco at the northern end and Valle de Cafayate at the southern end. Hence, the name. The bodega is located in Cafayete at 1,700 meters above sea level and was founded in 1892 while the grapes from Chañar Punco are grown at 2,000 meters above sea level. El Esteco was one of the first to commercialize and export Torrontes. It’s currently owned by the same company that owns Trapiche in Mendoza.
Screw cap. Floral and fruity nose with touch of reduction. The palate is round and oily with a medium+ body and fruit-driven up front and a slightly minerally and spicy back-end with medium+ acidity to keep it fresh. Slightly fizzy at first, but it fades. The fruit manages to be ripe and tropical like mango with lychee but still stay fresh and not too heavy. Medium alcohol. Quite typical Argentinian Torrontes except this has an oilier and fuller feel than most I’ve had but it’s not at all heavy. There may be a small bit of oak used here to develop that roundness, but most of the Torrontes I’ve had have been unoaked, but as I said, there are different styles. 91
2022 Durigutti Cara Sucia Tinto de Rivadavia Mendoza Cereza
100% Cereza planted in 1940. Vinified and aged 3 months in cement eggs. Some of it was macerated while some of it was not and treated like a white wine. The color is light. It’s not rose light, but about as light as you can get for a red wine. The nose displays red fruit and floral notes with earthy and herbal notes. The palate is juicy and fruity with a mildly savory finish. Medium+ acid. Light-bodied, low alcohol and easy drinking, but more intensity than I was expecting. Should be a versatile food wine–something you can have with any weekday meal. I would have guessed a light unoaked Pinot or perhaps a cooler Grenache if this were a blind tasting. I like this more than most Bonarda, which is more dark-fruited and slightly heavier even though Bonarda is still light to medium-bodied. This is a wine to enjoy now. It’s not a wine I’d age. 90
2023 Finca Feliz Tesoro Mendoza Criolla Grande
This comes from Santa Rosa. Native yeasts. Kept in cement vats. 11,000 bottles made. Not a big nose and a simple, rustic wine overall, but it’s light, fruity and enjoyable. A bit of fizz which fades. Ripe cherry fruit but lower in acid than the Cereza, darker too. A bit higher alcohol and less complex. However, it’s easy to drink, chilled on a summer day. 88
2023 Bodegas Niven Criolla Argentina Canela Reserva Mendoza
From a vineyard planted in 1920 in Junín with a lot of native/criolla and rare varieties. Aged in concrete. Darkest of the Criolla reds, but it’s still a light, simple fruity red. Definitely feels like native yeasts. There are some herbal notes, but mostly it’s about ripe dark cherries but with some tang. Low alcohol. Easy to drink. Not much on the nose though. There’s more acid than Criolla Grande but less than the Cereza. 88
As a bonus, I tasted another Argentinian Criolla grape not too long ago. Here are my brief notes although I didn’t feel I spent enough time with it to rate it:
2023 La Cayetana Pedro Gimenez IG Desierto de Lavalla Mendoza (not pictured)
I’ve reviewed wines from this producer before. Shy nose. Touch of oak? Citrus. Upfront ripe white fruit, honey but a long salty finish with high acid. A little alcohol. Medium-light body. This is the criolla grape Pedro Gimenez (spelled Pedro Jimenez in Chile), another cross between Moscatel de Alejandria and Criolla Chica (País) and NOT Pedro Ximenez with an “X” that they use for sweet wine in Andalucia, Spain.