Producer: Santa Julia
Wine: Tardio
Vintage: 2004
Country: Argentina
Appellation: Maipú vineyards, Mendoza
Wine Type: Dessert
Primary Varietal: 85% Torrontes, 15% Viognier
Grade: B
Designation: Excellent Value
Price: $12 (500 ml)

You know the dilemma – you’re having a big dinner party, you’re attempting to match each course with the perfect wine and somewhere on the menu you want to showcase that glorious piece of Stilton, or that torchon of foie gras, or maybe even your fancy-shmancy almond pear tart with an equally as luscious sweet wine, but ouch! All those puny (yet succulent) little bottles of 375 ml Ice Wine, Sauternes and Tokaji are really going to send your drinks budget into the stratosphere.

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That’s where the Santa Julia Tardio is ready to step in and save the meal (and your wallet)! Not only does it come in a 500 ml bottle (enough for almost nine 2-ounce pours!), but this Argentinean late harvest wine also has all the makings of a very decent sweet wine for a similarly accessible price. Figs, apricots, orange peel, honey – all those divinely delicious flavors are there. To be honest, you’re not going to get the balanced acidity and complexity of the Tardio’s more costly counterparts, but neither will you be drinking a cloying, sticky mess of saucy goo. The Santa Julia Tardio is a dessert wine value at its most friendly. (08/04/05)

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