I put together a small tasting to compare two “old-style” Argentine wines that I brought back from a recent trip to Buenos Aires to an expensive wine made in the current style. The three wines were preceded, as usual, by a dry white, and followed by a dessert wine. The comparison was unfair to the extent that the old-style wines were mature and the current one wasn’t, but it served to illustrate some of the differences.
Before the tasting I opened a bottle of:
2000 Weinert Malbec Reserva Mendoza 13.5%
Attractive nose of chocolate, blackberry and vanilla. Mature, with good acidity and enough fruit to compete. Tastes a little tired after about 15 minutes and begins to oxidize; must have been at its peak about two years ago.
Later:
2006 Jean Bousquet Chardonnay 14% Tupungato Mendoza
From vines planted at 1,200m/3,935ft. Made by a French producer in Mendoza. Heavy aromas of oak vanilla butter offset by grapefruit. Tastes sweet and tart, a little lacking in acidity. Tries to be French rather than new world. Marcia liked it better than I did.
1996 Bodegas López Montchenot 12.8% Maipú Mendoza, Finca La Marthita Cabernet/Merlot/Malbec from vines planted in 1940. Spent 10 yrs in bottle before release. Delicate nose of cherry and dishrag. Mature, with silky and elegant cherry fruit and excellent acidity. Could use a little more extraction, but fine.
1999 Weinert Gran Vino Reserva 14% Mendoza
Malbec/Cabernet/Merlot, spent 36 months in French oak. Blackberry, cherry and barnyard aromas. Mature, excellent balance, delicious. MY WOTN and a pleasure to drink.
2005 Terrazas de los Andes Afincado 14% Vistalba Mendoza, Finca Las Compuertas
From vines planted in 1929 at 1,070m/3,500ft, spent 18 months in new French oak. Much darker than the preceding reds. Vanilla, chocolate and cherry nose. Taste confirms nose, with noticeable alcohol and dense body/extraction. Acidity is present, but all the components appear to me to run on separate tracks. Marcia liked it better than I did, but thought it suffered by comparison with the others. It seemed a little brutish to me, compared to the delicacy of the Montchenot and the Weinert. I expected more, and the role of expectations is such that I have to confess that the two vintages of regular Terrazas Malbecs that I tasted in the last two weeks gave me more pleasure.
2003 Los Stradivarius de Bianchi L’Elixir d’Amore 13% San Rafael Mendoza 9.5%
A blend of Semillón from Finca Doña Elsa and 5% Sauvignon Blanc from Finca Las Paredes. Spent 12 months in French oak barrels. Classic sauternes nose of botrytis, peach and honey. Delicious, nice touch of lemon peel bitterness, but not enough acidity. Marcia thought it less unctuous than good Barsac or Sauternes.
The comparison may have been somewhat unfair because of the vintages, but it seemed clear to me that any tasting of the best Argentine wine must include examples from Montchenot and Weinert.
