Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 85

YEAR'S BEST MENDOZA MALBECS
tones dominate at first, but with time in the
glass, lush purple fruit takes over, violetscented and black-peppery. It's also got grip,
a vertical structure that contributes a feeling
of coolness and clarity despite its opulence. §
MundoVino/Winebow Imports, NY
125759

93 | Bodegas de los Clop

lean, driving intensity, this will make you
happy. It's also a fascinating testament to
malbec's terroir sensitivity. § The Wine Group,
Ripon, CA

$20

2016 Agrelo Luján de Cuyo Reserva Malbec (Best Buy) ^ This is light on its feet and
dark in flavor, with black-pepper spice and
meaty cherry flavors. It feels Old World in its
savor, with green-herb notes playing around
the edges, and gripping tannins. § Orvino
Imports & Distributing, Coral Springs, FL

125789

93 | Nieto Senetiner

$50

2015 Luján de Cuyo Don Nicanor Single
Vineyard Villa Blanca Malbec ^ Roberto
González has been making the wines here
for 25 years-and out of the company's 750
acres of vines, he has come to treasure this
small parcel next to the winery restaurant
in Vistalba, the vines planted more than a
century ago. Old-vine concentration comes
through in the wine's silken density of fruit,
as intense as cherry liqueur, while two years
of oak aging adds a gentle scrim of caramel
and nut flavor. It's a pretty malbec, ready for
a roast chicken with root vegetables. § Foley
Family Wines, Santa Rosa, CA

125756

93 | Lamadrid

$27

2015 Agrelo Gran Reserva Single Vineyard Malbec ^ This is malbec in all its seductive beauty: dark, rich, lush black-raspberry
and plum flavors; sassy licorice and sultry
earthiness. With air, the fruit gets redder,
lighter, gauzier and even easier to drink; with
no overt wood tones to weigh it down, this
doesn't even need food to accompany it. § Vino
del Sol, Corralitos, CA
125760

93 | Mascota Vineyards

$25

2019 Mendoza Unánime Malbec ^ Winemaker Rodolfo Sandler sources the fruit for
this wine from a vineyard in La Consulta,
where the high, sun-soaked climate allows
for prodigious ripeness as well as acidity.
This wine shows both: the fruit velvety with
plummy concentration, yet floral and fresh.
Oak spice adds opulence, the wine straddling
the border between sophisticated drink and
guilty pleasure. § The Wine Group, Ripon, CA

125940

93 | Nieto Senetiner

$30

2018 Valle de Uco Don Nicanor Barrel
Select Malbec ^ Culled from old vines in
Agrelo and aged in French oak for 18 months,
this runs through a panoply of flavors at first
sip-licorice and caramel, chocolate and
lavender, plums and spice. As the oak tones
recede, the wine settles into a long breath of
bright, tangy red fruit. It feels vibrant and
slightly wild, needing time in the cellar to settle into itself-though it would play well off
of roast duck breast right now. § Foley Family
Wines, Santa Rosa, CA
125764

93 | Trapiche

$50

2017 El Peral Terroir Series Finca Coletto
Malbec ^ Of Trapiche's three Terroir Series
wines in 2017, Finca Coletto is the tightest, tartest and wildest. Grown in El Peral,
at 3,697 feet above sea level, it's more wild
strawberry than malbec's usual plum, with
prickly, peppery resinous accents. If you're
looking for lush malbec, this isn't it, but if
you want an invigorating, lively red with a

125798

92 | Alamos

$20

92 | Alta Vista

$30

92 | Caro

$71

92 | Clos d'Argentine

$42

2017 Mendoza Selección Malbec (Best
Buy) ^ This is lush and modern, the superripe,
plummy fruit structured with new oak, and
kicked up in intensity by a minty eucalyptus
note. The wine has freshness and direction,
and a gentle saturation to its coffee-grind
tannins. The combination is hard to resist. §
E&J Gallo, Modesto, CA
125803
2017 Mendoza Terroir Selection Malbec ^ A blend of five vineyards, this brings
together the lush fruit of Luján de Cujo and
the tighter, more aromatic flavors of malbec grown in the Uco Valley. It's snappy and
juicy, the blue fruit limned with strawberry
brightness. Chill it lightly for mapo tofu, or
a grilled vegetable salad with feta. § Kobrand,
Purchase, NY
125824
2017 Mendoza Caro ^ The flagship wine of
the partnership between Catena and the
French firm Domaines Barons de Rothschild
(Lafite), this is an ambitious blend of malbec
and cabernet (74/26) aged a year and a half
in barrels, 60 percent new. It's smooth and
polished, with the sweet, nutty richness of
Nutella and a fruit-compote intensity. § Taub
Family Selections, Boca Raton, FL
125469
2017 Mendoza Gran Corte Reserva ^ Dark
and rich, this blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc packs in fruit and
spice. It's buoyant and lively, ripe yet cool,
with an evergreen note perking up the blackraspberry fruit; black-pepper spice gives it
extra lift and drive. (W&S 6/20) § W.Direct,
Lawrence, KS

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

85
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/nieto+senetiner+don+nicanor+single+villa+blanca+malbec+lujan+de+cuyo+mendoza+argentina https://www.wine.com/product/alamos-malbec-mendoza-seleccion-2017/507356 https://www.wine.com/product/lamadrid-gran-reserva-malbec-2015/612358 https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/nieto+senetiner+don+nicanor+barrel+select+malbec+mendoza+argentina/1/usa-fl
Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020
