En Piedra Líquida Sauvignon Blanc El Peral | 2022

Piedra Líquida’s Sauvignon Blanc is so aromatic you can smell its kaleidoscope of fruits and tropical colors from across the table. Available in the United States for the first time, Piedra Líquida is the kind of wine that usually disappears into the trendy wine shops and restaurants of Argentina. Truly underground, there’s no website and hardly a word about the wine in English. Piedra Líquida is the project of distinguished Italian winemaker Giuseppe Franceschini and farmer Juan Pablo Calandria in El Peral, a high-altitude corner of the Uco Valley and a treasure trove of old vineyards. Giuseppe has lived in Argentina for more than fifteen years, and he’s quickly become responsible for some of the country’s most eye-popping, head-turning wines. Fermented and aged in used barrels, Piedra Líquida reminds me of a Sauvignon Blanc wrapped in a torchon and squeezed until its most concentrated droplets remain. It wakes you up with an orange glow, peach fuzz, exotic piney herbs, icy stones, and a smack of lemon balm. At 13.1% alcohol, it’s a total flavor bomb in a sleek physique—high cheekbones and all. If you’re a fan of cult Loire Sauvignon, high-toned white Bordeaux, or the magic of Friuli, Piedra Líquida is for you. Like it is for me. ~Allegra Angelo