Mendoza, nestling at the foothills of the Andes is one of Argentina’s most important and spectacular wine regions producing the Malbec grape. Its vineyards sit at high altitude and have become the adopted home of a French grape variety that failed to flourish in its homeland in quite the same manner.

The history of Malbec in Mendoza can be traced back to the 19th Century when cuttings were first brought over from France over to Argentina.

With Argentina facing Chile in Nantes the battle of two wonderful wine producing countries was bound to produce something tasty. Two tasty reds facing each other in the home of a delightful dry crisp white, if there were a wine World Cup then Malbec, Merlot and Muscadet would be a tough trio to beat.

The whine really flowed following the Pumas abject display in their opening match against England but they recovered with a 19-10 win over Samoa.

Chile have a different rugby pedigree but they have won many friends at this World Cup with their derring-do attitude, and to play their South American amigos at the Stade de la Beaujoire was something very special, an experience to recount to their children and grandchildren, tales that will no doubt get taller as the Merlot gets shorter.

This was the first ever Rugby World Cup match between two South American teams.

The beautifully named Perpignan centre Jerónimo de la Fuente captained the Pumas on the occasion of his 77th cap, and with players from Clermont, Toulon, Racing, Bordeaux and Toulouse in the Argentinian line-up there was plenty of home interest in this Latin rugby fiesta.

Chile may lack experience at this level, but with 27 players out of the 33 man squad playing for the same club, Selkham Santiago, they were certainly not short on familiarity.

An eight-try 59-5 victory in Nantes means the Pumas return to second in Pool D, level on points with Japan, who they will face next week, the winner of that match will qualify for the quarter finals.

But the biggest cheer of the day from the raucous Latin crowd came in the 73rd minute when Tomas Dussaillant crashed over for Chile’s solitary try.

The Condors fly home with their heads held high having made many new friends and admirers. There were a few glasses of Malbec, Merlot and Muscadet raised in the wonderful bars and restaurants of Nantes on Saturday evening to toast a colourful heart lifting occasion under beautiful warm sunny French blue skies. This is what the Rugby World Cup is all about.