Next month, Wines of Argentina will announce a major publicity campaign in the UK. All events are set to take place during September - for maximum impact, explains organiser Westbury Communications.
Why? Because Argentina is feeling pretty hopeful about exports to the UK at the moment, and wants to bring its wines to an even wider audience.
Argentina, as we are all aware, is having a bit of a rocky ride, but its winemakers are still in fifth place as far as global production goes. Exports to the UK were down last year compared with 2001, but they're expecting a good year in 2003. There are 58 wineries in the UK, represented by a cross section of agents, and the 2002 vintage is looking good - but then this is paradise for winemakers, so no real surprise there.
So where to try the wines? Well, the supermarket shelves and high-street retailers have a fair selection, but there's one place that beats them all - the London-based, seven-strong Gaucho Grill chain of Argentinian-themed restaurants. It offers a total of 101 Argentine wines on its list - "the biggest outside Argentina," boasts wine buyer Phil Crozier. And now the restaurant group is offering five of its own Argentine wines, sourced and blended by Crozier.
Crozier was studying to be an audio engineer before he joined the hospitality industry via the Gaucho Grill in 1993. At first he looked after the management side of things, but became increasingly interested in wine. "I'm totally self-taught," he declares, proudly. Crozier read up on the subject, did a few wine courses and then got out to Argentina (with a little help from suppliers) and he now makes the trip regularly - most recently to source the five "house" wines, though he would rather you didn't call them that.
Called Terruño (the Argentinian translation of terroir), the five wines include a zesty, quietly floral Torrontés (£14.95), a gutsy Malbec (£18.95) and a rather refined blend (a Merlot-Malbec, at £21.50). They are made by different producers, from different areas, and are all offered by the bottle, by the glass, and by the 500ml "pot".
"We've gone to a lot of trouble to show what Argentine wines are all about at a budget level," explains Crozier, revealing that the wines now make up 20% of total wine sales at Gaucho Grill. "It was a difficult exercise but the journey was very interesting."
In addition to the main list, the Gaucho Grill offers a substantial "Fine & Rare" list, with wines up to £195 a bottle (a 1983 Malbec-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Weinert). And - a nice touch this - Crozier lists the vineyard altitude in metres alongside the appellation and region details. For those of you who are familiar with Salta, one of the world's highest-altitude vineyard areas, with vineyards up to 2,570m above sea level, you may be pleased to know that Crozier also lists the much-lauded (and rare) Viñas de Davalos "33" from Raul Davalos, at £55.50.
So what's his favourite wine with steak, then? Gaucho Grill's USP are the super-tender, flash-grilled steaks from pampas-fed steers. "Something from Salta, probably," he replies - like the Malbec from Domingo Hermanos, at £33.50.