Magical Malbec

The Nihonbashi Club uncorks Argentina’s best bottles at this month’s Malbec World Day mixer.

Argentinian wines are somewhat of a rarity in Japan.

Yet with their rising acclaim in international competitions, it would be a crime for oenophiles to overlook these elegant South American bottles.

The Nihonbashi Club will introduce Members to these treasures at a special mixer event on April 17, teaming up with Kaoru Kitayama, an importer of rare Argentinian wines, to bring six enticing selections to the Muromachi Bar & Lounge and the American Room. The occasion is Malbec World Day—not a misnomer but a global celebration, now in its 14th year, created to spotlight Argentinian Malbecs on the world stage.

“Argentinian wine has a long history,” Kitayama explains as we sit back in the American Room, glass in hand. “Wine has been made there since the 16th century thanks to its ideal environment for grape cultivation.”

Several grape varieties are grown in Argentina, but Malbec has surged in popularity since arriving from France in the mid-19th century to become the “national variety.” Today, Malbec plantations cover almost 100,000 acres, mostly in central-western Mendoza province.

The environment, Kitayama says, couldn’t be more perfect for growing Malbec. “It’s very sunny, the fields are at high altitudes and it’s separated on the Chilean side by the Andes, which blocks the humid air of the Pacific Ocean. So the region is very dry. It’s said to have a continental climate, but it’s like having vineyards in a desert.”

The water shortage stresses the vines, she explains, producing tastier grapes with a higher sugar content than those grown in France. This results in wines with smoother, mellower tannins and a deep fruitiness that has helped propel Argentinian Malbecs to global prominence.

Kitayama’s love affair with Argentinian wine began during her 23-year career as a civil servant. Working for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, she was stationed at the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru, in 2017. Fully diving into the local culture of home barbecue parties with plenty of bold red wines to match the meat, she was amazed at the range and quality of Argentinian wines available.

A tour of Casarena, a winery in Luján de Cuyo in Mendoza, would change the course of her life. The winery owns four estates in Luján, each named after the family’s grandchildren: Naoki, Lauren, Owen and Jamilla. The name Naoki caught her attention, and she soon learned that the owners’ son had married a Japanese woman.

Stumbling across a connection to home in such an unexpected place made a huge impression on Kitayama. She began to wonder why Japanese importers weren’t bringing these delicious Argentinian wines into the country.

“My encounter with Casa Naoki was so strong that I knew I absolutely had to bring this wine back to Japan. I felt a sense of mission and decided to take a different path in life.”

In 2020, she launched her import business, Kitayama Shoji. She is highly selective about the wines she works with, and several in her lineup have won international awards.

Argentinian wines selected for the Malbec World Day mixer

In fact, it was one of her award-winning wines that caught the attention of Member Geoffrey Kamizuru-Bowman, a Club governor and former chair of the Nihonbashi Committee. Bowman was attending the James Suckling Great Wines World Tokyo Flagship Wine Tasting last October when he came across Kitayama’s booth. There, he spied a wine that had earned a perfect score from two major critics. One taste surpassed all expectations.

“It was wonderful,” says Bowman. “I’m a big fan of full-bodied reds, and I’ve been a fan of the Mendoza region for a long time. I’m a big steak lover, too, and these reds go really well with steak. I also tried an Argentinian Pinot Noir that I had never tried and was blown away by its quality.”

This serendipitous encounter led to this month’s Malbec World Day event, at which Members can try a mix of reds and whites selected by Kitayama.

In her lineup is—of course—a stunning DNA Malbec from Casarena, the winery that sparked Kitayama’s import business. Made from Malbec grapes harvested from the best plots across the vineyards, it’s a sophisticated wine with black fruits on the nose and subtle vanilla and chocolate notes from French oak aging.

Then there’s an Argentinian wine that made history: Gran Enemigo Gualtallary’s Single Vineyard, a blend of 85 percent Cabernet Franc and 15 percent Malbec. Its 2013 vintage was the first South American wine to receive a perfect score of 100 points from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, the highest rating ever. On offer at this Club event is the 2019 vintage, which retained its perfect score and also ranked second in James Suckling’s Top 100 World Wines 2023 list.

Kitayama’s flagship wine, the Casarena ICONO Blend, is a 2016 limited production vintage of 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 40 percent Malbec. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were sourced from the winery’s 90-year-old vines, producing a concentrated, juicy wine that lives up to its iconic name.

White wine lovers are also in for a treat. The elegant and structured El Enemigo Chardonnay from Bodega Aleanna employs a rare production method of biological aging, often associated with sherry. Unlike traditional Chardonnay, which ages through oxidation, this wine develops under a layer of flor, a wild yeast that forms on the surface of the liquid. This technique protects the wine from oxygen and is notoriously difficult to master.

Last but not least is a white wine crafted from Torrontés, a grape variety unique to Argentina. Casarena Torrontés surprises with its fruity aroma and hints of white flowers and violets, yet is intriguingly dry on the palate with a spicy minerality.

Kitayama hopes her selection will give Members not just a taste for Argentinian wines, but also an appetite to learn more about their origins.
“I think there’s a tendency to think the world revolves around the Northern Hemisphere,” she says. “But in fact, South America has a truly unique culture, and you can’t really understand it until you go there. I want people to know more about South America.”