Barnes publishes ‘most comprehensive’ guide to SA wines

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 29 June, 2021

Regional expert Amanda Barnes has published The South America Wine Guide, covering the wines of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.

The result of a decade of research while travelling around and living the continent, the Guide folds in 500 years of history, detailed overviews of over 70 wine regions, plus insights and profiles gained from numerous interviews and tastings with winemakers throughout the regions.

Barnes also folds in a “Terroir Selection”, featuring 403 top wines, drawn from a long list of more than 2,500 wines tasted across the countries, plus a strong travel element for those visiting the region’s wineries.

Billed as the “World’s most comprehensive guide to South American wine published”, the work has drawn commendation from fellow South American devotee Peter Richards MW, describing it as “comprehensive, detailed, evocative and up-to-date… written by someone who lives and loves this region”.

Barnes told Harpers that she approached the book with the aim of not only jumping into greater detail about South American wine, “but also diving into the culture of South American wine and the people that make each terroir unique… actually getting under the surface and exploring why certain regions and varieties have thrived - and equally why not.”

She added: “South American wine is so breathtakingly diverse and still so relatively untapped, which makes it all the more thrilling to discover – there’s always something new.

“There's an intoxicating combination of new, pioneering vineyards in mindboggling locations from the heights of the Andes to the depths of Patagonia and the bone-chilling coastal sites along the Pacific, mixed with traditional wine regions with ancient vines that are steeped in history and wine culture from the gnarly old bush vines of Itata to the magical Criolla vines of the Cinti Valley in Bolivia that wrap themselves around pink peppercorn trees.”

The South America Wine Guide is available in print in the UK, USA & Europe for £35 here.

It is also available as an e-book (Kindle & PDF format).

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