Humberto Canale Estate, Malbec Rose 2010, By Bodega Canale, USD 11
Nice and basic Malbec from Rio Negro Valley, Northpatagonia.
A little bit unconcentrated wich takes away a bit of beauty that would deserve otherwise by terroir nature. Soft Rose shade of red with an undertone of brown. The aromas go along the palate straight ahead.Cooked red berries and quince marmalade place wide in the middle palate. Roundness and typicity quite clear of Rio Negro Valley. An 85 points Rose that may age less fruity and more compote like during next 2 to 4 years. Good value though.
Padrillos, Malbec 2009, By Siesta Wines (Puerto Ancona SA), USD 12
Typical malbec from Vistaflores distric in Uco Valley. A place for the greatest mendoza´s wines to come along the upcoming years. At least those wines naturally concentrated with dark black fruits at the berries and plum level with balanced tannins acidity and alcohol. Fine fruits with very attractive tannins. Delicate and quite well structured. A young malbec at the premium level of complexity. A 90 points malbec to enjoy young plenty of character. It wont go better after 4 years of age. Good value and one of those malbec to show up at a friend´s reunion.
This kind of Malbec is pushing the quality and value threshold further up and setting a new standard for Argentinas´s Malbec. An international Malbec exquisite and placing itself unique.
Humberto Canale Estate, Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot 2009, By Bodega Canale, USD 12
A good sample of Rio Negro Valley in Northpatagonia. Cooked and compoted red fruits with nice acidity and alcohol. Ligh dark chocolate. Wide in the palate with an early red cherry edge. A typical Northpatagonian value at a premium level. I´d say a 89 points blend ,good value and probably better the first 4 years of life. A red born from grapes of a cold latitude climate and alluvial land.
Zolo, Malbec 2010, By Fincas Patagonicas (Tapiz Wines), USD 8
A multi-vineyard malbec from Mendoza resulting in a great malbec. Straight and clear with a good light envelope of chocolate and toast. Deep ripe fruit ,mostly black plums and berries (like a good Uco Valley or La consulta district). Beautifull palate inviting and full of brilliant fruity attractive. Nice alcohol and acidity back up the whole thing. A 89 points malbec and a great value for 8 bucks. To enjoy kind of before 4 years born.
One of those malbec everyone loves and enjoy smiling and pouring another cup.
Fabre Montmayou Reserva malbec 2009, By Domaine Vistalba, USD 15
Very good malbec from key terroirs around Mendoza. It dominates ripe black cherries and boysenberries with wide middle palate falling a little bit short afterwards.A bit of plum for sure. Nice balance keeping it attractive. Soft oak support. Good backbone tannins to endure 4-6 years for better. A 90 points malbec with strong and vivid personality. Good value with Mendoza´s signature and a quite unique style. A Malbec to discover through year after years.
Fabre Montmayou, Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, By Domaine Vistalba, USD 15
Fine and structured Cab from Vistalba distric of Lujan de Cuyo in Central Mendoza.
Very dark cherries ripe and sour with subtle peppery note and a well polished chocolate.Nice spiciness and a little edge of minerality like graphite. A firm and brave tannin bucking up the fruit. A 92 points Cab that probably will bring more beauty in 4 to 6 years ahead. A very good value, like Mendoza use to give away.
Killka, Malbec 2009, By Salentein Wines, USD 9
A nice although barely stuctured above basic level Malbec from Tunuyan (Uco Valley), Mendoza. All the basics of a Salentein´s there but less concentrated and vanishing. Basic soft chocolate from oak and a sniffy pinch of vanilla almost imaginary. Good fruit ripe and acid with short palate after the middle taste. The wine feels immature yet, so it might get more balanced in a few years, but for now I don´t see better than 85 points red. I liked more the Salentein´s Los Leones series at the same price stand although concievably this might be a vintage or maturation bias. All in all a good value.
Portal Andino, Malbec 2009 Vintage, By Frutal Genetica SA, USD 6
A simple malbec from General Alvear ,south Mendoza. Good fruit of malbec with a tabacco surrounding. Quite light and balanced acidity and alcohol in the palate. An 82 points malbec to drink before 2-3 years age.A low cost and even so keeping in toach with basic malbec.
Clos de Chacra, Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, By Bodega Clos de Chacra (Winery at Chacras de Coria, close by Mendoza City), USD 13
A single vineyard from La Consulta, Uco Valley.
An astonishing CS with all the beauty of a cabernet and La Consulta at the same time. Ripe black fruits with interesting notes of sweet red bell peppers and black berries jammy but balanced and not over the top either. Good chocolaty and toasty notes to make it a bit more complex. Nice aftertaste. A 91 points Cabernet Sauvignon with all the elegance and beauty of La Consulta in Uco´s Valley. A great value no doubt. To enjoy the best 6-8 years from harvest. I would buy it several times to repeat the little plesaure.
Vinorum, Malbec premium 2008, By Vinorum, USD 14
A malbec from Agrelo district in Lujan de Cuyo, Central Mendoza. An attractive balance of fresh malbec with complexity to discover. Not very concentrated although the balance of fresh and cooked plum and berries with the typical acidity and alcohol of Agrelo make it quite interesting. A herbal edge coupled with soft oak sum up very well. A 90 points malbec to enjoy 4-6 years of harvest. Good value.
Altos Las Hormigas Clasico 2010, Byy Altos Las Hormigas, USD 12
A multi-vineyard malbec from Mendoza. Young and fruity malbec with a storm of sour fresh berries, black plum and boysenberries. Thin chocolaty note and enough balance to keep it attractive. A 88 points red, simple but funny. The enjoy young, lets say befoere 4 years to its best. A very good typical Mendoza´s value. Very competitive Malbec to the world.
Oportuno , Late Harvest Malbec, By Domaine St Diego, USD 17 (500 ml)
A late harvest malbec from Lunlunta district in Maipu Dpt of Central Mendoza reaching alc 18% vol/vol. Quite attractive malbec not even close to oporto wines. Late harvest with concentrated fruits sweet and ripe with soft prune and raising but preserving the plummy hallmark of malbec. soft mineral edge and overall round. A 89 points late harvest with typicity of malbec to enjoy with chocolate, dry figs and a wide range of treats aftermeal.
Caelum Malbec 2009, By Bodega Caelum, USD 10-12
Quite typical malbec from Agrelo distric in LDC, Central Mendoza.
All the beauty of an Agrelo without the concentration and bones of a above premium red. Dark flowers, red and black fruits ripe and sweet with good acidity and alcohol support like Agrelo bring about in its malbecs.Only a hint of herbal (like green bell peppers).Very soft chocolaty edge. An 85 points malbec and a good value for the price. Not enough wine to age more than 4 years.
Pulenta Estate, Pinot Noir 2008, By Bodegas y Viñedos Hugo y Eduardo Pulenta, USD 22
A thumb up PN from Alto Agrelo District in Lujan de Cuyo Departament, Central Mendoza. Round and delicate red with thin ripe blackberries and red cherries but preserving the correct direction for Pinot Noir. Only a toach of a chocolaty note. It´s straight and attractive keeping balance all the time, from the soft red lucent color to the delicate and even passage through the palate. A 90 points PN nicely expressing Alto Agrelo terroir and Pinot Noir at the same time. Not a complex PN although good enough for an above premium red.
Black River, Malbec 2004, By Humberto Canale. USD 15 (UK) to 43 (Belgium)
A softly oaked malbec from Rio Negro Province in Northpatagonia. A fully expressed malbec from Patagonia showing dry fruits like prunes,dry figs and black cherries compoted. Good acidity and alcohol keep the structure. Not a concentrated neither a complex wine even attractive. An 87 points malbec that should go around 10 bucks at the US market standard to be a great Argentinian value. It probably reached its best 4 to 6 years from vintage
Bodega Humberto Canale is the first winery to export Patagonian Malbec to the world and now has expanded its wines from Diego Murillo, to Intimo, Estate and Grand Reserve series.
Viña Amalia, Malbec 2009, By Finca Amalia, USD 15
Great Malbec from San Carlos Vineyards in Uco Valley. Dark blue with shining brights of deep red alluring from the beginning. Sugary ripe blueberries and boysenberries. Amazing black plumms made marmalade. Just fine chocolaty note to round it up a little bit. Wide middle palate. Not concentrated though (to be an ultrapremium malbec!). It reaches a 90 points malbec not overexpressed and fair to its terroir. Four to six years may bring even more beauty.
A great value built as an intrinsec quality driven malbec (as opposed to oak driven or oak complemented)
Norton Reserva Malbec 2008, By Bodegas Norton, USD 15
Great Malbec from Lunlunta vineyards in Maipu Departament of Central Mendoza. Nice sweet and sharp fruits with gentle tannins chocolate and vanilla. Not timid at all. Balenced to make it even all through the palate and aftertaste. To enjoy this fruity driven up to 4 years but surely nice down the 7-8 years road. A 90 points malbec with great typicity and attractiveness. Great value premium red.
Lunlunta gives this fine and elegant malbec nicely completed by oak this time (to see the opposite look for Paradigma or Pura Sangre By Angel Mendoza from Domaine St Diego).
Padrillos, Pinot Noir 2010, By Ernesto Catena (siesta wines), USD 12
Elegant and self sustained PN from some high lands of Mendoza (previous vintages from Gualtallary district in Tupungato, kind of 1,300 mts/ 4,300 ft). Very attractive red cherries sour and ripe with dark sugar plenty of ripeness. Some plummy add quite nice. Little if any chocolaty or toasty notes. It impacts the middle palate and vanishes nicely. It may evolve into terciary age and grow interesting but I probably prefer it now young and juicy. A 90 points pinot noir getting maturity during the first 4-6 years. A great high Mendoza´s value. Most people would buy at least a case to follow through the years.
It reaches high quality and shares the oustanding future with Patagonian Pinot Noir
Intimo, Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, By Humberto Canale, USD 9
Good CS from Rio Negro, Northpatagonia.
Balanced mix of fruits mostly red cherries compoted and kept on by nice acidity and alcohol. Soft chocolate and toast too. Not concentrated though. Wide palate in the middle taste wich is typical of patagonian reds. An 84 points red and a good value.Its not a premium wine but rather a simple and straight CS to enjoy at low cost. To drink before 4 years old.
Fuzion Alta Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, By Bodega Santa Julia (Zucardi Family), USD 9
Quite good CS from maipu Dpt in Central Mendoza. Young and attractive red with red and black cherries delicate and balanced (hard to tell blindly its a Cabernet) keeping a straight power to pair many foods. It´s not a concentrated wine even though you may enjoy it alone or with bits of dark chocolate (lets say above 60% cocoa),cheeses or a simply focaccia portion. An 86 points CS to drink young before 4 years and a very good value.
Alta Vista Premium, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008, By Bodega Alta Vista, USD 14
A great Cab Sau from high lands in LDC and Uco Valley that gives off a beautiful red with ripe black fruits mostly sweet blackcurrant and black cherries entangled with a roasted red bell pepper and herbal toach. Wonder chocolaty note with soft toast edge. It reaches a nice middle palate spreading good concentration and a good enough aftertaste for a premium red. A 91 points Cab that may get nice terciary notes with 4-6 years cellar but this black fruit bone is alluring now. A great mendoza´s value to try once and again. It reaches an equilibrium quite hypnotizing.
Quattrocchi, Syrah 2008, By Bodega y Viñedos Juan Quatrocchi, USD 7-8.
From Lavalle close by mendoza city but farther northeast away from the Andes mountains. A barely legal red with basic fruity sour edge and a thin backbone. Acceptable at a basic floor. A 75 points syrah better than the malbec counterpart baraly enjoyable and hard if not impossible to buy twice. Not a good value.
Domados Select Blend 2007 Lobuno, By Domados Wines, USD 24
60% malbec, 25% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon from La Consulta, Uco Valley. Red brownish that grows elegant after a couple of hours opened. Nice and attractive terciary notes of red cherries and berries oxidated in a beauty structure. Round and even strong with delecate dry figs and raisins. Good alcohol and acidity. A 92 points mature blend with exquisite balance. Good value given at this price level. This is the type of Uco value worth enjoying anfter 6 years and close to 8 years old. If you like terciary dominant wines this may go easily 94 points too.
Lobuno is the spanish for `like wolf in color´ describing the horse´s shades.
Vistalba Corte B 2006, By Carlos Pulenta Wines,USD 20
Great blend from Vistalba district in LDC Central mendoza made of 70% malbec and 30% Cab Sauvignon. Astonishing balance where red ad black fruits ripe and sour merge with chocolate in a long and wide palate. Before that you get amazed by the flower aromas like a red flower perfume close to hypnotizing. I dont´t imagine this red better than young and strong showing all its backbone. So you might prefer drink it before 6-8 years. A 92 points blend with all the beauty of Vistalba.
Colección Perdriel, malbec 2009, By Bodegas Norton, USD 15
A Malbec from LDC Departament Central Mendoza. Nice malbec with compoted plums. The fruit palette is rich with more dry figs and prunes.You may pick up black and red cherries too. Good alcohol but falls short in acidity wich is a minus. Good coconut and soft chocolaty. Overall an 88 points malbec well priced and a good mendoza boy. This colection usualy gives off its best 4-6 years down the road.
Enclave Sur, Malbec 2010, By Grupo Trafen, USD 8
A malbec from Choele Choel Isle (Valle Medio, Rio Negro) Northpatagonia. Great concentrated red bluish with promising aromas of black cherries black cassis and dark ripe plums. However the palate falls short.Only a straight initial palate follew by a vanishing ending. An 83 points malbec far from the local value in terms of strong backbone and wide deep tannins. Barely acceptable value. I wound´t cellar this malbec. 2009 vintage was far better.
La Flor, Malbec 2009, By Pulenta Wines, USD 10
Nice Malbec from Agrelo District in LDC, central Mendoza. The fruit ´s good enough to balance the herbal counterpart which is kind of menacing. It goes pretty well all through the palate. Soft almost nothing chocolate and toast. Looks like the herbal stuff has complotted the beauty of this red. I´d say an 84 points malbec and a barely acceptable value. Bad vintage sadly. It deserves to taste other vintages no doubt.
see the 2010 vintage HERE
Beviam, Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 By Bodega Cavas del 23, USD 20
Guaymallen city red close by Mendoza city. A good Cab with all the components of a likeable one. Sweet ripe red and black cherries with nice roasted red bell pepper and black spice from black peppercorn. A nice note of herbaceous stems gives a pretty edge too. Soft chocolate and toast. Balanced and attractive more complex than most CS. A 90 points CS to enjoy 6-8 years from born. A good value. I wound´t tell this CS from a Maipu or even a Lujan de Cuyo one. Quite round, soft and attractive only lacking some concentration to go way up to outstanding.
Finca Abril , Rapsodia Malbec 208, By Bodega Finca Abril, USD 14
Malbec from La Consulta, Uco Valley. It portraits most of the virtues of Uco´s. Fresh black ripe fruits like black plum black currant and boysenberries. Good chocolaty,coffee and tabacco notes make it round and attractive. Not a concentrated malbec although a nice premium one with enough complexity to discover. I´d say a 87 points malbec and a good value too. To enjoy better some point 4 to 6 years of cellar.
Carinae Malbec 2007, By Bodega y Viñedos Carinae, USD 9
Basic Malbec from Cruz de Piedra District in Maipu Dpt, Central Mendoza. Soft and balanced fruity driven red. Almost no oak at all altough some toasty choco may show up a little bit. Good soft bitter backbone of tannins. An 83 points and a typical low cost malbec to enjoy without thinking much of it. This is to enjoy the best up to 4 years from harvest. In my memory Cruz de Piedra´s malbec is a typical central mendoza red with wide attractive middle palate but somehow less rounder and smoother or balanced than Lujan de Cuyo´s. Probably I coudn´t tell one from another blindly tasted anyway.
Elementos, Torrontes Dulce Natural (Late Harvest) 2009, By Bodega El Esteco, USD 6
Impressive value from Cafayate Valley, Salta.
A late harvest Torrontes nice and balanced with floral aromas and quite beautifull sweetness. Not over the top sugary.Some nice herbal note gives balance. Ripe peach and melon dominates the pallete.Not complex though.A 85 points late harvest quite attractive and a great value too.
Quattrocchi Reserve Barbera 2007, By Bodega & Viñedos José Quattrocchi,USD 10
From a vineyard in Lavalle city, northeast Mendoza.
Nice red with sweet and velvety red berries marmalade. Good balance of acidity and alcohol with an edge of toast. Elegant even not complex. Not concentrated (Barbera grape typicaly goes this way) but attractive so. A mature wine in its best. An 87 points red that should be understood as Barbera grape. A good value for a delicate grape.
