Mostly South America

This tasting was based around the theme of South America. Argentina is known for its Malbecs and Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile has been recognized as having the potential for high quality for some time now, so naturally these were the most obvious groupings to structure the tasting around. For good measure a Malbec from Cahors, France was thrown in to compare with the Argentine versions. My ratings were assigned without knowing the Wine Spectator scores to avoid any bias.

Chilean Cabernet

2002 Cabernet Sauvignon – Domus Aurea (Viña Quebrada de Macul)
This was an elegant wine that displayed licorice candy, wine gum, thyme, red plum, and juicy raspberry character. A light barrel toast comes through in just the right proportion. This wine has a sweet edge and fine tannins, not a burly Cabernet. It reminds me of the 2005 Croix de Beaucaillou. Wine Spectator scores this 93 points: loam, mint, dark currant, fig and cigar smoke, plush texture, a beautiful rendition of cool climate Cabernet. My notes read very differently but I do agree that this is a great rendition of cool climate Cabernet. $39.99 USD 91

2005 Medalla Real Cabernet Sauvignon – Santa Rita
Right away the smoky effects of the barrel toast are apparent here along with green bell pepper herbaceousness which made it easy to distinguish from the Domus Aurea even when the bottles were blinded. The finish is a little tart and tannic but there is some dark fruit in the middle to hold it up. Lots of mulberry and a pure cassis aroma mingled with vanilla and that greenness. More heavy than the Domus Aurea, but the barrel toast and greenness make it less appealing to me. Wine Spectator scores this 91 points: tobacco, currant paste, loam, muscular structure, cedar, roasted vanilla. International Wine Cellar and Wine Enthusiast both score this 90. Now that I know what this costs I have to say it’s a good value. $19.95 90

2003 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon – Concha y Toro
More depth and length than the previous two Cabs. Vanilla, black fruit (blackberry and plum), sweetened cranberry, light coffee and cigar tobacco with mineral tones to keep it interesting. Very suave wine with depth and class. Not every taster was as taken by this wine as I was, in fact a comment was made that the more aggressive style of the Medalla Real was preferable - wine is after all to a large degree about personal taste. Overall though, it was agreed that this was the best Cab of the lot. Wine Spectator’s 96 point scoring also supported the group consensus: currant, cocoa powder, dark fig, blackberry, loam, cedar, tobacco, mineral and coffee, long and authoritative finish that sails on. Reading the Wine Spectator notes now it’s interesting too see how closely they compare to mine. $70 USD 94

Malbec

2003 Catena Alta Malbec- Catena Zapata
After the Cabs this was a real change of gears. The overtness of this wine appealed to a broader range of tastes. Salty, sour plum, licorice, dark fruits, mineral and a long fruity and salty finish. I’m always reminded of salty licorice candy or preserved salty sour plums when I have a good Argentine Malbec, and those characteristics were certainly evident here. 94 from Wine Spectator: flashy and seductive, blue fruits, exotic mocha and spice notes. Definitely flashy! $50-60 USD, around $60 CDN 91

2004 Le Cedre – Chateau du Cedre
A massive wine! The phrase “It’s punishing, but I like it!” was used frequently, and with good reason. This has immense grip and hefty tannins that need 5-10 years to mellow out. It is mouth puckeringly astringent on the finish but full of tobacco, light floral elements, sandalwood, and cherry cola characteristics that are very entertaining. Only with lots of time in the glass does the sour salty plum I associate with Malbec come out, compared to the Argentine versions which display this right out of the bottle. Frankly, I like this more than the more overt Argentine style because there is more structure and depth. Wine of the Night for Adam and I. 95 from Wine Spectator: “Very elegant, with concentrated flavors of dark cherry, raspberry and cassis. Massively structured, with intense dark chocolate notes and plenty of rich spiciness”. Looks like we agree. $49 95

Also had a 2004 Alta Vista Alto which was flawed. It was not the wine Wine Spectator described as, “Big and bold with tar, loam, and bittersweet cocoa…core of black currant and plum fruit…Flashy, and pulls it off.” 93. Another flop was the 2006 Montes Alpha Syrah which was not up to the 90 Toronto Star rating but not obviously flawed.

Tasting - Any Fine Wine

There was no particular theme to this tasting, just whatever we had kicking around. Some of the wines were tasted blind for fun and there were some odd wines thrown in the mix too. It turned out to be somewhat educational and a little test of our tasting skills.

Also interesting to note is how some wines that you’ve previously enjoyed by themselves can wilt when compared to other wines in a tasting (e.g. you realize how green a wine is in comparison to riper ones).

NV Brut – Piper Heidsieck
Citrus notes of lemon and lime candy, nutty cashew, leesy/toasty bouquet, slight grassy note. I’m not a connoisseur of Champagne but I was pleased with the weight and length of the finish as well as the fine bubbles. Lacks the carbonated/sulfite sharpness that sometimes affects lesser Champagnes. Reasonable price for this quality of bubbly makes it a nice standby. Rated 90 Toronto Life online: cookie, lemon custard, toast, good length. $55.20 90-91

1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – Caymus
After other vintages flopped in previous tastings we were determined to find one that would show well. Considering that this vintage scored 93 and 92 points from Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator respectively we thought things should play out differently this time. The barrel toasting turned off some tasters again, especially as it became more evident with air, but I think it was a touch better than the 2003. Lots of cassis and some green pepper, still has well defined fruit despite bottle aging, cigar box, and some savoury thyme/tarragon notes. Velvety and rich but lacking some complexity. $55+ USD (the 2005 is $80 at the LCBO) 91

2004 Finca Altamira Malbec – Achaval Ferrer
This wine was tasted blind and when I assigned the rating I had no idea that it had scored 95 and 98 points from Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate respectively. After assessing the wine I was sure it was a Malbec (the characteristics were so overt), but my score was low because I though the wine was a little overdone and awkward. Usually my scores are a little closer to the critics, but not in this case. Overtly fruity: salty sour preserved plum (a Malbec indicator for me), cherry, almost tutti-frutti, and blueberry pie. Very expressive aromatically almost perfumed. A little leather and straw. Obviously malo’ed with silky milk chocolate character. Love the powerful nose (one of the best things about Malbec I think) but the experience in the mouth was too fruity and cumbersome for me. $90-115 USD from online search 89-90

2005 Explorateur Barossa Valley Shiraz – The Colonial Estate
Loads of fruit, jammy, full of black olive and iodine which make the varietal hard to miss. Sweet coffee notes. Super ripe, and to me bordering on alcoholic pop, but pleasant enough if you enjoy the style. The fault for me is the lack of tannins which fail to balance the ripeness, they are too soft. 90 in Wine Spectator. 95 Wine Advocate: blockbuster, white pepper, licorice, graphite, finesse and elegance (I really don’t know where Parker got elegance from, maybe he’s had to many over the top wines). $28.80 91

2004 ‘Vieilles Vignes’ Chablis – La Chablisienne
Very nutty! Overt hazelnut in nose and palate, clean mineral with light citrus. 90 from Wine Spectator, but no mention of the hazelnut in the review: “taut and steely…lemon and mineral flavours”. Interesting. $24.95 89

2006 Petalos – Descendientes de J. Palacios
This one was a wild card that we tasted blind. Didn’t have a clue as to what it was. This wine comes from a region that none of us were familiar with, Bierzo. Tutti-frutti, cherry pie, spice (white pepper), grippy phenolic smell, pencil lead, weird! 91 International Wine Cellar: cherry, minerality, rose, “this smells like a great Chambolle-Musigny” (what? maybe bad Chambolle-Musigny), raspberry, brisk acidity. $23.75 87

1998 Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon – Penfolds
Strong menthol, red fruit, muted barrel toast, cassis, bitter tannins on the finish, tobacco. Almost like menthol cigarette. Interesting for the strong mint character, but a bit monodimensional. Not surprisingly, several others note mint/menthol on Cellar Tracker. 90 from Wine Advocate on release. Thoroughly overpriced, had no idea it was this expensive when I tasted it. $140-200 (depending where you get it) 90

Argentinean Malbec Continued

Since my initial experiences with Malbec from Argentina were positive (see ‘Argentinean Malbec’ posting) I decided to line up another few to help me further characterize these wines. Unfortunately one of the ones I was looking forward to tasting most was spoiled (2004 Norton Reserva, 91 WS) but the remaining 3 proved more than adequate.

2004 ‘Catena’ Malbec – Bodegas Catena Zapata
Having tried the 2002 I was curious to see how this vintage would compare. This vintage also shows ample oak influence with a very open fruit forward nose of black cherry and cassis (more so than a Cabernet I found). There is some pomegranate in the finish and I also noticed some green tobacco. As is typical for a good Malbec some dark chocolate is in there too. Although there are definite similarities between the vintages, and 2004 is very expressive, it is not as polished as the 2002. My only gripe is the oak is too dominant. Give it a year or 2 to come together. $19.95 90

2005 Reserva Malbec – Finca Flinchman
Loaded with slightly salty preserved plum, strawberry, and coffee with light cherry, woody spice and mineral to round the profile it out. Most interesting is that is covers sweet, sour, salty, and bitter flavours which I don’t think I’ve noticed in a wine to this degree before. A lot of wine for the money! $12.95 91


2004 Mendoza Malbec – Achaval Ferrer
This wine took a little while to open up in the glass, but once it did it was quite impressive. It has the same sour and sweet plum as the Flinchman, but it’s not as salty. Coffee and an interesting savory herb and roasted wood note. Blackberry and strawberry jam add and impression of sweetness to this well balanced wine. This is like a deeper more structured version of the Flinchman which is why I think it will drink better in 2009. Probably the best Malbec I’ve had so far. Wine Spectator gives it a 91 also noting plum, mineral and good acidity. $24.95 92

From my notes a few less common elements seem to be present in most of the Argentinean Malbecs I’ve had: a definite sour fruit note which is unique and pleasant as well as a salty mineral like taste, chocolate/coffee notes seem to be typical also. Maybe the sour salty thing is just me (since I’ve only read a few other people’s tasting notes that mention this so far) but to me it is a fairly noticeable. These wines tend to be well extracted and expressive with lots of black and blue fruit, good acidity, and interesting flavour accents which is why I’m becoming quite fond of them.

Argentinean Malbec

Malbec (also known as Côt) is an interesting grape variety; although it has gained recognition as being the premier varietal of Argentina it was never very successful in its homeland of France. The only appellation in France that still utilizes a large amount of Malbec is Cahors (where it is often called Auxerrois to make things even more complicated).

Wanting to see what all the hype was about I did a tasting of 4 Argentinean Malbecs:

2002 ‘Catena’ Malbec – Bodegas Catena Zapata
This Malbec comes from 3 different vineyards at different altitudes. Very ripe fruit: black cherry mostly with some raspberry and black currant. Touch of spice and buttery lightly toasted oak. Well structured with fine tannins, this wine is smooth with good length. It’s easy to drink too quickly (especially at 14% alcohol). Good all around wine but nothing unique enough about it for me to recognize as distinctly Argentinean Malbec. Approximately $20.
91 from Wine Spectator.
My rating: VG-E

2004 ‘Alamos’ Malbec - Bodegas Catena Zapata
Coming form the Mendoza this Malbec is from the same producer as the wine above, but its $8 cheaper (entry level Alamos range). Aromas are light and lively: sour cherry, plum and ripe raspberry. The palate is similar with some spice and noticeable oak. Light ruby colour. This wine needs to breathe a bit in order to open up because it is a touch young I think.
VG-G

2003 Malbec – Bodegas Del Fin Del Mundo
This wine comes from the ‘end of the world’ Patagonia, not what one would think of when contemplating imbibing great wine. This Malbec impresses with plum, cocoa, ripe raspberry nuances following through with a rich chocolate coffee, but slightly sour palate (which is minimized with breathing). Similar price as the wine above.
VG-G

2004 ‘Reserva’ Malbec – Santa Julia (Familia Zuccardi)
Olive, a touch of smoke and a definite meaty and cocoa element. The fruit is not so evident before the wine has a chance to air out, but there are boysenberry and plum elements. Wine Spectator gave it 89 and said it was a beefy wine with dark fruit, smoked meat, dark fruit, and spicy oak. I would have to agree with that description. There is some toasty French oak I’m sure and a certain meaty richness that I love. A good deal of acidity which allows it to pair well with food, but doesn’t lead itself to sipping alone. Once again breathing a few minutes improved this wine quite a bit. $14.95.
VG-E

The best Malbec for the money would have to be the Santa Julia followed by the Del Fin Del Mundo, the two wines from Catena are both solid wines but don’t have the varietal character that the Santa Julia has (black fruit like plum and boysenberry; cocoa; and ‘meaty’ are common Malbec indicators). If you prefer more polished New World style wines I’d go for the ‘Catena’; if you want to see what Argentinean Malbec is about the Santa Julia is the place to start.

All of the wines I tasted were of good quality and I will be drinking many more Malbecs form Argentina for sure.

A note for Ontario consumers: there are still bottles of the Santa Julia available at Vintages at the time of this posting (LCBO No. 665026).