Winemaker Notes
Pair with beef, sausages, spiced or grilled pork, medium-strong cheeses, and meat-based pasta sauces.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A savory and juicy wine with blackberry and dark chocolate character. Full body, velvety tannins and a delicious finish. Rich tannin texture gives linear definition.
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Decanter
Bright and floral on the nose, this has youthful dark fruit as well as prunes and earthy tones. Lean and fine textured in the mouth. The fruit is a little sweet but there are nice ripe strawberry flavors and a flower laden finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As it was the case with the 2013, the 2014 Benmarco Malbec was produced with grapes from vineyards in Los Chacayes in the Valle de Uco and produced with as little intervention as possible, following the ideas of vineyard manager Edgardo del Popolo. The bunches were manually sorted, destemmed softly and the grapes fermented with daily pigeage with a maceration of 20 days. It matured in used French oak barrels for one year. There are notes of ripe plums and dark cherries, with a fresher palate and fine tannins, good balance and a dry, mineral finish. The riper notes turned more floral with time in the glass. It's an impressive 2014, especially for the price.
Rating: 90+
BenMarco is all about viticulture. Having planted more than 3,000 acres of vineyards across Argentina’s diverse terroirs, Edgardo “Edy” Del Popolo, General Manager of Susana Balbo Wines in Mendoza and head winemaker for BenMarco, is Argentina’s most knowledgeable winegrower. He has tasted almost every piece of dirt!
BenMarco wines are made with minimal intervention to allow for the purest interpretation of what’s underground on the extreme sites where the grapes for BenMarco are grown. “I try to avoid adding my influence to BenMarco wines,” Edy says. “What I really like to see is what the vines can do, without any kind of winemaking influence.”
Edy grows three red wines from three distinct, high-elevation sub-zones of Mendoza: a Malbec from Los Chacayes, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Árboles, and Expresivo, a red blend from Gualtallary.
Celebrated for its bold flavors and supple texture, Malbec has enjoyed runaway success in Argentina since the late 20th century. The grape originated in Bordeaux, France, where it historically contributed color and tannin to blends. A French agronomist, who saw great potential for the variety in Mendoza’s hot, high-altitude landscape, brought Malbec to Argentina in 1868. Somm Secret—If you’re trying to please a crowd, Malbec is generally a safe bet with its combination of dense fruit and soft tannins.
With a winning combination of cool weather, high elevation and well-draining alluvial soils, it is no surprise that Mendoza’s Uco Valley is one of the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in Argentina. Healthy, easy-to-manage vines produce low yields of high-quality fruit, which in turn create flavorful, full-bodied wines with generous acidity.
This is the source of some of the best Malbec in Mendoza, which can range from value-priced to ultra-premium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay also perform well here.