Miami, FL, August 25, 2021: Domaine Bousquet, Argentina’s largest producer and exporter of organic wines, has released its first USDA-certified organic white wine. The no-sulfites-added Virgen Organic Chardonnay 2021 debuts in major markets nationwide, joining an existing trio of reds: Virgen Red Blend, Virgen Cabernet Sauvignon, and Virgen Malbec. All four wines, line-priced at a budget-friendly $13 SRP, are imported by Miami-based Origins Organic Imports.
“Making USDA-certified organic wines presents its own set of challenges,” says Domaine Bousquet co-proprietor Anne Bousquet. “Those are amplified when it comes to a USDA-certified white wine able to withstand the rigors of shipping and deliver the quality buyers and consumers have come to expect from Domaine Bousquet. Every aspect of vinification has to be double- and triple-checked.”
The Virgin range launched in February 2019, starting with 2,000 cases of 2018 Virgen Red Blend. 2020 U.S. sales for the three Virgen reds combined topped 20,200 cases, with 2021 year-end sales set to hit 50,000 cases, representing an increase of almost 250% over the previous year.
The new Virgen Organic Chardonnay originates in certified organic estate vineyards planted at an altitude of about 4,000 feet in the Tupungato subzone of Mendoza’s Uco Valley. Grapes are hand-picked and fermented in stainless steel. Abundant sunshine, hot days, cool nights, and sandy-gravel soils contribute to Domaine Bousquet’s signature “Naturally Elegant Wines.” A pure expression of this remote and beautiful high-desert terroir, Virgen Chardonnay, at 12.8% ABV, exudes freshness and acidity, with the full-bodied structure and intense minerality characteristic of the Uco Valley.
Virgen Organic Chardonnay | SRP $13 | Imported by Origins Organic Imports
Available nationwide
Domaine Bousquet, owned and run by husband-and-wife team Labid Ameri and Anne Bousquet, has made a name for itself in the organic category in a relatively short period, beginning with the 2005 release of the winery’s first vintage. The 672-acre estate in Gualtallary, a sub-zone of Tupungato in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, is now Argentina’s largest producer and exporter of certified organic wines. Vineyards planted in virgin terrain, starting in the late 1990s, lie at a dizzying altitude of 4,000 feet. True to its founders’ European heritage, the wines are crafted with a French winemaking sensibility.