The French #winophiles are discussing French Producers and Their New World Ventures this month, hosted by yours truly.

I recently had the opportunity to visit South America with stops in Santiago, Buenos Aires, and Mendoza. It was amazing and I will certainly be writing more about that in the coming months. It was on this trip that I learned about Bodegas Chandon in Mendoza, Argentina.

Chandon, is owned by the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy conglomerate, but the more I learned about Chandon Argentina, the more intrigued I became. Argentina was the first venture outside of Champagne for Moet & Chandon – in 1959. This was surprising to me given the relative recent history of the popularity of Argentinian wine.

Robert-Jean de Vogue was the President of Moet & Chandon at the time, and he had a vision for Moet & Chandon’s future that went beyond exporting. He, together with Chandon Argentina’s first winemaker, Renaud Poirier sought out the perfect place in Mendoza to plant vineyards and parlay the traditional methods of Moet & Chandon into wines that reflected this new place. 1959, it’s really quite remarkable isn’t it? Especially when you consider that the area is basically a desert, dependent upon snowmelt from the Andes mountains for water.

That type of vision and the tenacity to follow through on it, is what hooked me into a deep dive on Chandon Argentina, which revealed a global empire of Chandon within the global empire of LVMH. I’ll be perfectly honest, I tend to dismiss products from large producers – especially of this enormity – as things that more represent world class marketing and image branding than anything else. I have to admit, the house of Chandon, with it’s world wine production of sparkling wine really made an impression that has me having a heart-to-heart with myself on pre-conceived notions.

I am torn between being in awe of such global vision and holdings, and cringing a little bit when I see just how many houses/labels LVMH holds in their wine and spirits sector. I cannot argue with the luxury status of the holdings in the massive portfolio, and although I don’t drink these labels often – and some I never have – I don’t think there is homogeneity in the products.

Is it a global cash grab? A maniacal quest for wine and spirits global domination? There is a Napoleonic tie to the history of Moet & Chandon. Or is it a sincere interest in seeking out all the best and most unique spots the world has to offer to the business of making fine wine? I don’t know but at the very least it is intriguing.

Argentina may have been the first venture outside of Champagne but it was certainly not the last. Chandon made a home in Napa Valley and Brazil in 1973, followed by Australia in 1986, China in 2013, and India in 2014.

Vineyards in six countries, on four different continents, the sun literally never sets on Chandon.

A very interesting thing I noticed on my travels, in both Chile and Argentina, was that putting ice cubes in your wine is not uncommon! Like what? The first notice of this was in Chile at VinaMar, where they produced a sparkling wine called “ice wine.” This is an entirely different animal than North American ice wine. This Chilean sparkling wine was produced to be served with ice cubes!

In Buenos Aires a small bucket of ice cubes was brought to the table for our red wine. I thought this was such an oddity and truly a South American thing, until I discovered a Chandon AND a Moet Chandon Champagne created to be served with ice cubes!

Grandmas and suburban housewives everywhere are about to have their moment of validation. I’ll admit that I have added a few ice cubes to wines served at large outside events in the summer here in Georgia, so I don’t hate this idea and I have the curiosity of a cat, so I had to check this out for myself.

Before I get to the one I’m featuring, check out this Moet & Chandon Champagne made for ice. I almost went with this one, but it was the most expensive option at my local retailer, and it has 47 g/l of residual sugar. I wasn’t sure I’d like it enough to spend the $60.97 they were asking. This is a wine I’d love to try at an event or by the glass.

Bodegas Chandon|Garden Spritz|11.5%|$19.99

I really would have liked to bring home a bottle of regular sparkling wine from Bodegas Chandon, but I didn’t make it to the winery on my visit. According to current winemaker, Diego Ribbert, “All our water is Andean meltwater. Our conditions give our wine a very special quality. You get wines with absolute, untainted purity of expression.” Maybe I’m an easy sell, but that sounds kind of magical to me.

I decided on this Garden Spritz, produced in Mendoza because it is absolute genius. No one scoffs at adding ice to an Aperol spritz, and this is basically that in a bottle – just add ice. Three or four cubes to be exact. This wine is made in Mendoza and imported my Moet Hennessy to Chandon USA in Napa for distribution,

The base wine for this bottle is produced with slow fermentation in the long charmant method. The blend of grapes is Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Semillon. The grapes are harvested in January and February with the first fermentations happening in steel tanks, followed by blending and 2nd fermentation in closed steel tank.

The truly unique thing about this wine is the addition of a bitter liqueur made from locally sourced ingredients. Spices such as chamomile, cardamom, amargo (a bitter bark), and black pepper are part of the recipe along with Valencia oranges. The liqueur is added last, immediately prior to bottling.

This wine that stays in Mendoza is sold there as Chandon Aperitif. In keeping with what I feel is the true intention of this wine, I paired it with aperitif fare: olives, aged cheddar, sesame sticks, fennel toralli, and dark chocolate with Chardonnay mark from Vine to Bar. I spotted these orange and black pepper glazed almonds at my local grocery store – were they made just for this wine?

If nothing else, this wine sure is pretty with the recommended garnishments of an orange slice and rosemary sprig.

All of these choices were really good with the wine. Those orange glazed almonds were actually much better with the wine than by themselves. The chocolate was the surprising win for me, super silky and smooth with the wine.

The wine was slightly disappointing – not that it wasn’t delicious, it was. But, aside from the rosemary sprig in my glass, I did not get any herb or spice notes from the added liqueur. There was a slight bitter note in the finish, but mostly it came off as a nice sparkling wine.

I had decided against a comparison to Moet & Chandon because I thought it was apples and oranges, but I regret not having the Champagne to compare to this wine.

Please check out my fellow wine writers articles featuring the new world endeavors of French wine producers by clicking the following links:

• For the Love of Pinot Noir: An American-French Partnership in Oregon by Always Ravenous
• French Roots in Dundee Hills: Drouhin Reds with Lacquered Baby Back Ribs by Culinary Cam
• La Crema CA Pinot Noir and Les Cadrans de Lassegue Saint-Emilion Grand Cru: Two Jackson Family Wines from Two Countries Paired with Pork Roast by Wine Predator…Gwendolyn Alley
• Maison Joseph Drouhin: From Beaune to the Dundee Hills by Food Wine Click!
• Southeast Asian Flavors at Domaine Carneros by Wineivore
• Tablas Creek Patelin De Tablas Blanc + a Recipe by Tablas Creek Vineyard by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• The Sun Never Sets on Chandon by Side Hustle Wino