Winemaker Notes
Domaine Nico La Savante pours a glass that is bursting with red-mineral fruit, with slight reduction and a touch of citrus. Orange peel, earthy character with high acidity and low alcohol content. A vertical wine layered with tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 La Savante Pinot Noir was produced with fruit from the vineyard called El Mirador, 1.45 hectares planted in 1994 with Pinot Noir clones 115 and 777 in the monastery part of Gualtallary at 1,450 meters in altitude. It is soft and caressing, aromatic, complex and nuanced with an ethereal texture and very fine tannin's. It fermented in oak roll fermentors and small 800-liter vats and matured in French oak barrels for 18 months. It's not easy to decide which one is best, but in this 2018 that they call a classical Mendoza vintage, I feel the Le Paradis has a little more complexity. But for the price difference, I'd go for this La Savante.
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Decanter
Laura Catena realised early on that the Uco Valley was an excellent place to grow Pinot Noir, and thus began this exclusive project which makes use of grapes from a parcel 1,460m above sea level in Gualtallary. This vintage offers aromas of fresh berry, violets and minerals, while the palate is taut with a gentle texture and fine tannins. A New World Pinot Noir of surprising quality.
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.”
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.