Amanda Barnes: My top 10 South American wines of 2021

For the first year in over a decade, I haven’t been based in South America due to the borders being tightly shut until November 2021.

That, however, didn’t slow my enthusiasm for tasting new releases – even if the shipping container chaos did! Nor did the pandemic slow down South America’s most creative winemakers, who continued to forge ahead with inexhaustible innovation.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and score Amanda Barnes’ top 10 South American wines of 2021

What has excited me most about South America’s wines over the last couple of years is the restless search for wines reflecting interesting terroirs, purer regional expression and greater freshness and transparency.

In my blind tasting of South American Chardonnay wines in June, the greater restraint of oak with more focus on purity of fruit and mineral backbone resonated strongly.

Some of the top wines came from notable producers in Chile’s Limarí Valley (Tabalí, Amelia) and Mendoza’s Uco Valley (Catena Zapata, Viña Cobos) which are, at least in my mind, the two grand crus of South American Chardonnay. But we are increasingly seeing excellent Chardonnay wines from southern Chile and Argentina, one of which makes my discovery list this year – for its great value as well as expression.

Excellent value and purity of place is also the case for the incredible new Tabalí Pai Pinot Noir and the new Cobos Vinculum Chardonnay. They both make my list too. Believe me, these wines are relative bargains for their quality.

Old vine varieties

Other bottles I can’t get enough of are wines made from the really old vines of Chile and Argentina.

I’ve long been a fan of the País wines coming from Chile, which are getting fresher and more elegant by the year (look out for Miguel Torres’ Millapoa, launching in mid-2022). But for my wines of 2021, I’m going with three other old-vine varieties that provided a delicious vinous kick for me last year: old-vine Semillon, Cinsault and Chenin Blanc.

I have also included some of the top scoring wines from our Premium Argentine Malbec Panel Tasting last summer, which reflect the hunt for distinctive mountain terroirs (Matervini) and fresh yet silky expressions of Gualtallary (Bousquet).

I have also picked a few gems from Uruguay from my ‘Beyond Tannat’ article, published in the September issue, a country which continues to excite me in its distinctive identity and constant quest to show a totally different face to South American wine.

This selection of wines are all currently on the market, but having touched down in my home turf again in November, I can tell you there’s a lot more to come. South America’s winemakers haven’t been twiddling their thumbs during the pandemic!

Amanda Barnes’ top 10 South American wines of 2021

The South America Wine Guide written by Amanda Barnes was published in 2021 and features in the Decanter pick of Best wine & spirits books for 2021

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