Argentina sweeps international wine awards

(Decanter World Wine Awards)

Oenophiles may well want to consider bypassing old standbys like French and Italian wine shelves and travel to the Argentinean aisle following that country's performance at a prestigious international wine competition this week.

The South American country emerged as the wine-producing nation to watch at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, Wednesday, where its wineries took home six international trophies - the most wine awards of any single country in that category and a first for the competition.

Among new world wines, New Zealand also took home three international trophies, followed by Australia which scooped up two awards.

Argentina's first win of the night went to Etchart for its Pivado Torrontes which won for best Dry Aromatic Under £10 (€11.50) followed by Terrazas de los Andes for its Seleccion Torrontes. The winery is owned by Moet-Hennessy.

Other award-winning wineries included:

- Argento for its Bonarda 2010
- Bodegas Dos Andes for Chalten Malbec Coleccion 2009
- Mendoza for its Finca Sophenia

It was also a big night for Argentinean wine producer Vinalba, a winery that was founded just three years ago in 2008 and won its third international award for its Patagonian Cabernet Merlot.

For full results, visit http://www.decanter.com/dwwa .