Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is very ripe and juicy on the nose with hints of jam and blueberry character. Full body, with firm tannins and a juicy, savory finish. Lots of hazelnut and dark chocolate character. Drinking beautifully. Dynamic red. 59% malbec, 36% cabernet sauvignon, 5% petit verdot.
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Wine Enthusiast
Toasty, minty and true to form, this Malbec-Cabernet blend is heady stuff, with hard tannins and plenty of ripeness. Blackberry, coffee, chocolate and herbal flavors are aggressive yet harmonious, while the finish is black and muscular in nature. With such tough tannins, this needs time to settle; best after 2017.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Cheval des Andes is a blend produced with grapes grown in Las Compuertas, in Lujan de Cuyo, from vineyards planted in 1929. It is a big, ripe blend of 59% Malbec, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot which is very deep purple-colored, with a bright rim and an opaque center. The nose is completely closed and ungiving, so you need to exercise your wrist and swirl your glass around energetically and you’ll get rewarded with subtle and complex notes of forest floor, leather, cigar box, and cured meat, but especially shiny, perfectly ripe black fruit aromas. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with velvety tannins, superb integration of the oak and focused flavors of cassis, blueberries, soil and faint violets. Great in a slightly international style, a little ripe. A big, ripe Argentine Cheval.
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Wine & Spirits
Rich and round, filled with scents of coffee and sweet spice, this is a voluptuous blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. With time in the glass, its complexities begin to unfold into notes of earth and herbs. This comes from vines planted in 1928 in Las Compuertas, one of the highest altitude vineyards in Luján de Cuyo.
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Wine Spectator
This ripe, structured red mixes notes of dark cassis, plum puree, licorice and maduro tobacco. Tight now, but should open in a year or two. Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Best from 2015 through 2020.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
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.