Expert’s choice: South American sparkling

In recent years, the Champenois have spread wings around the world – from Napa, California to Ningxia, China. But the first major investment of a Champagne house abroad was in Argentina. Moët & Chandon’s first outpost beyond France was Chandon Argentina in Mendoza, in the late 1950s (see ‘French influence in Argentina’).

Scroll down for a selection of 18 South American sparkling wines to try

It was a bold statement. But one that paid off. Chandon, although now joined by subsidiaries in Brazil, California, Australia, China and India, remains the most profitable and largest of LVMH’s sparkling wine houses outside Champagne. Not only did Argentina prove to be great for producing sparkling wine, but for drinking it, too.

Argentina makes about 40 million litres of sparkling wine a year, but most of it is consumed locally. Just 1% of Argentina’s wine exports in 2021 were sparkling. The story in Brazil and Chile is similar – and this explains why some of my favourite sparkling wines don’t make it on to this list. The world-class top sparkling wines of Bodegas RE, Matetic, Morandé, Otronia, Tabalí and Undurraga, to name a few, are all yet to be imported to the UK and US.

I hope more will make it to the market soon, because South America’s sparkling wine scene is bubbling over. Not only have winemaking techniques been honed, but over the past two decades there’s been significant investment in selections of sparkling wine clones, which has smartened up the vineyards destined for bubbly.

Quest for cool

For traditional-method sparkling wines, Chandon’s original outposts of Mendoza in Argentina and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil remain strongholds. Brazil’s Pinto Bandeira and Vale dos Vinhedos regions are, in fact, best known for sparkling wine, far more so than still. These wines are increasingly drier, often brut nature, and have greater complexity from increasingly long lees ageing. Think Cava gran reserva and above.

But the exploration for cooler sites is what is making pulses race in South American sparkling wine. In Argentina, that means climbing higher into the Andean foothills, as we are seeing with a new buffet of Uco Valley bubblies. It also means heading further south, into Patagonia, where some stellar sparkling wines are coming from the Chubut province. The same is happening in the far-southern Chilean regions of Malleco and Osorno.

Cooler coastal climates are also driving up Chile’s sparkling wine quality with sites in (north to south) Limarí, Aconcagua, Casablanca and San Antonio offering some top examples. Uruguay’s coast, too, is a hub for good fizz – with Maldonado, in particular, leaping to the fore.

Many of the best traditional-method wines in South America spend several years on the lees, and are a steal for often less than £30. There’s also a host of excellent-value, short-maturation traditional- and tank-method wines. Some are more exciting than others, but the best often champion organic and Fairtrade credentials, too.

Finally, there are oodles of playful pétillant-naturels and ancestral-method bubblies from surprising varieties such as Nebbiolo and Viognier, along with old vine varieties of País and Moscatel. So, get the ice bucket ready, and dive into the world of South American sparkling.

Tasting notes and scores for 18 top South American sparkling wines

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