Bonarda

Bonarda is Argentina's second most widely planted red grape after Malbec, and its quiet workhorse: a deeply coloured, juicy, plummy red prized for soft tannins, bright acidity and easy charm. Despite the Italian-sounding name, the grape grown across Mendoza, San Juan and La Rioja is not an Italian variety at all but Douce Noir, a French grape from the Savoie Alps — the same vine known as Charbono in California and Corbeau in the Jura. Long treated as a humble blender, it has been rediscovered in recent decades as a varietal in its own right: ripe, fruit-forward and approachable, with deep inky colour and only moderate alcohol. The result is a generous, food-friendly red that drinks well young.