Winemaker Notes
There is a wonderful purity in this wine with dried strawberry and iodine. This refined red mixes crushed bilberry and cherry fruit with undertones of smoke, game and mineral. A fine length.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The élevage for the 2021 Cincuenta y Cinco was different from the past; they have now aged 40% in concrete tanks (it used to be 25%), 40% in French oak barrels and 20% in clay amphorae for nine months. They use cover crops in the vineyard, where they don't even use sulfur or copper. It fermented in a round and wide concrete vat with indigenous yeasts for 12 to 15 days with full clusters and an infusion with little extraction. It has moderate ripeness and 12% alcohol, with more tension than the others. This is basically the same wine as the Sin Azufre but with a little more oak, which is barely noticeable but with some spiciness and Burgundian character developing tantalizing notes of violet pastille with time in the glass. Best after 2022.
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James Suckling
Perfumed and floral aromas of rose petals, rose hips, wild strawberries, raspberries, sliced mushrooms and orange zest. Bright and succulent with a medium body and very fine, firm tannins. Delightful citrus and crunchy red-fruit character with pretty rose-petal notes throughout. Drink from 2024. From biodynamically grown grapes.
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.”
One of the most southerly regions on the globe for fine wine production, Patagonia has experienced extraordinary vineyard expansion since the early 2000s.
Patagonia vineyards occupy the lower foothills of the Andes at 1,000 to 1,600 feet. Here cold air drops at night from incredibly steep elevations—the Andes reach well over 15,000 feet in this zone—a phenomenon that produces drastic diurnal shifts. Cold nights contrasted with hot summer days produce grapes with striking color, full ripeness, great finesse and aromatic intensity.
Favored for its luxury brands, the Patagonia wine growing region of Argentina focuses on a diverse array of international varieties: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillón and Viognier among the white grapes, and Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon for reds.