Luca Pinot Noir 2012
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Robert
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James
Suckling
Product Details
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 G Lot Pinot Noir is produced with fruit from Gualtallary, a high altitude, chalky-rich soil vineyard in the Uco Valley. It has a ripe nose of red fruit, more Cote de Beaune than Cote de Nuits, with aromas of Morello cherries, sour notes, and some subtle spice aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, with very good acidity, definitively Burgundian. This is a very good Pinot Noir.
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Wine Spectator
Suave and refined, with concentrated cherry, dried berry, sandalwood and briary flavors. Offers silky tannins and a luscious, creamy finish that echoes with hints of Asian spice and anise.
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James Suckling
A fresh and clean cherry and lemons with hints of lemons. Full body, with a creamy character. Bright and very attractive. It shows a focused core of fruit. Very high altitude pinot noir. Drink or hold.
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Laura Catena is a fourth generation winemaker who grew up in a traditional Argentine-Italian winemaking family in Mendoza. Laura splits her time between Mendoza and San Francisco, California, where she is an emergency physician, university professor and occasional tango dancer. Laura had the vision of creating a new breed of Argentine wines: small quantities, artisan quality, and true to their individual terroirs. A pioneer of small-grower relations in Mendoza, Laura's incredible, limited production wines come from some of Argentina's best fruit from low-yield, high-elevation, family-owned vineyards. The wines are named after her children - Luca, Dante and Nicola - and symbolize her love for her family. The background of the label is the McDermott coat of arms of her American husband, Daniel McDermott.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
By far the largest and best-known winemaking province in Argentina, Mendoza is responsible for over 70% of the country’s enological output. Set in the eastern foothills of the Andes Mountains, the climate is dry and continental, presenting relatively few challenges for viticulturists during the growing season. Mendoza, divided into several distinctive sub-regions, including Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, is the source of some of the country’s finest wines.
For many wine lovers, Mendoza is practically synonymous with Malbec. Originally a Bordelaise variety brought to Argentina by the French in the mid-1800s, here it found success and renown that it never knew in its homeland where a finicky climate gives mixed results. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir are all widely planted here as well (and sometimes even blended with each other or Malbec). Mendoza's main white varieties include Chardonnay, Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon.