I was asked to speak at last Friday’s Barcelona Wine Festival on the Challenge of the New World. As is always the case in my experience at these events, this generally comes down to a wine tasting with a few words either side of the wines. The point I made strongly to the audience, many of whom were Spanish wine producers, was that they should be aware that New World wine producers are just as obsessive as they are just as dedicated to produce better wine with every vintage.
FYI the wines were:
Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc, Graham Vineyard 2003 Marlborough, New Zealand
Marimar Torres Pinot Noir, Don Miguel Vineyard 2001 Russian River Valley, California
Felton Road Pinot Noir, Black 3 2004 Central Otago, New Zealand
Salentein Malbec 2004 Valle de Uco, Argentina
Altair 2002 Cachapoal, Chile
Zondernaam 2002 Stellenbosch, South Africa
Opus One 2000 Napa Valley, California
Penfolds Grange 1998 South Australia
The Villa Maria has much more fruit and interest than the average Marlborough Sauvignon, Marimar’s Pinot was drinking very well now while the Block 3 is still quite youthful and bursting with spice and acidity. This debut vintage of Altair was a bit forced. The last vintage of Tokara bordeaux blend to be called Zondernaam rather than the Tokara name looked very pretty and creditable. The Opus was disappointing. The Grange was steaming along.
But by far the best value of the wines in the selection put together by the organiser Pancho Campo was Salentein Malbec 2004 Valle de Uco which sells for 12.99 euros in Holland (the bodega is Dutch-owned, mind you) and less than $15 a bottle in the US.
Salentein is a most impressive outfit, a beautifully designed circular custom-built bodega high in the Andes at 1,200 m above sea level. They are one of Michel Rolland’s many clients in this part of the world, one of the highest and certainly one of the newest high-altitude, wine regions of any size in the world. It’s very close to his big Clos de los Siete operation so he knows the terrain well.
What’s good about this wine is that it really does seem to have a geographical (high altitude) story to tell – and particularly well integrated, very high quality French oak. It’s much drier and more savoury on the finish than the standard sweet, velvety Mendoza Malbec, and yet there is no shortage of flavour. It’s all of 14.5 per cent alcohol according to the label but certainly hides its potency well.
Click here to find global importers of Salentein wines. This particular Malbec seems to be well distributed in the US and Holland but the UK off-trade importer reports that they have failed to persuade any retailer to list it. They are however suggesting a retail price of £9.99 which may well be a factor. Caves de Pyrene are supposedly the on trade (restaurants etc) importer but in fact you can buy this wine direct from them (see the directory for contact details) for jst £7.75 including VAT.
A couple of other notable Argentine Malbecs to have come my way recently are from Mendel and Antis from Andean Wineries. Mendel is a joint venture between the Argentine Sielecki family and Roberto de la Mota, the celebrated winemaker who is responsible for LVMH’s Terrazas de los Andes and Cheval des Andes which involves Pierre Lurton of Ch Cheval Blanc. Mendel Unus 2004 Mendoza is a very sophisticated, delicious blend of 70 per cent up to 80 year-old Malbec vines and Cabernet Sauvignon – even if the proposed selling price when it is launched in September of about £21 (revised from £25) a bottle still seems pretty steep to me. While there are 1,600 cases of Unus, there are 2,500 cases of Mendel Malbec 2004 Mendoza which presumably helps bring the price down to about £12 a bottle. The wine is definitely finer than most, almost transparent which is quite an achievement for wine made somewhere this hot. These wines are not yet available commercially but the Unus is certainly of interest.
Antis Malbec 2003 Mendoza is less distinctive, if beautifully packaged. It looks as though it is worth more than the £7-odd asked for it in the UK by the likes of The Wine Press of Carlisle and Hedley Wright of Bishop’s Stortford. This is the rich and velvety rendition of Argentine Malbec – much better for a barbeque or cold weather than for sipping in hot, humid conditions. According to winesearcher.com it's available in a wide range of countries. The Vineyard of Virginia in the US apparently asks a mere $9.99 for it.
find the Antis
04 jul: Nigel Greening of Felton Road tells me that after being so impressed by the Zondernaam 2003 in Barcelona, he was delighted to find it at http://www.sawinesonline.co.uk for less than £10 a bottle.
04 jul: Nigel Greening of Felton Road tells me that after being so impressed by the Zondernaam 2003 in Barcelona, he was delighted to find it at http://www.sawinesonline.co.uk for less than £10 a bottle.
