I am sitting here about to kick the rest of what is in my decanter: a 2002 Clos des Andes I recently brought back from another trip to Mendoza, Argentina. I must confess: I am utterly smitten with Argentina and many of its wines. They are totally different than Chilean wines and you quickly learn that Malbecs come in all styles, terroirs, and sizes and there are other great wines (like sparkling wines, torrontes, and some good Chardonnays) that are severely underrated and downright unknown outside Argentina. Each bottle has been this lovely little surprise and I have rediscovered that that lovely attribute in wine known as elegance, balance, know-how, and price-quality ratio still can be found in many Argentinean wines (disclaimer: all wines I have been drinking are in the US$20-25 range). Anyway, here is the pour on what I have had in my glass since I got back on Friday from the other side of the Andes!
INFINITUS: Merlot Gran Reserva 2002
Hold your horses and try not to be judgmental before sipping-this is not your average Merlot. First things first–this Merlot is coming from the far southern reaches of the Argentinean Patagonia in the cool wine region known as Nequén. The direct investment of one of the old school wineries in Mendoza combining French elegance with new world terroir, Fabre Montmayou, the Infinitus winery looks to beat out the clichés associated with this grape. Since the temperatures are cool and sunlight shorter, they deleaf the vineyard and perform a green harvest manually to get the berries to their optimum ripeness and concentrate that “terroir” character. Harvest is careful, hand-picked into small cases and sorted manually before a cold maceration prior to ageing in French oak for 12 months.
My thoughts: think wild berries, dark French chocolate (85%), and a touch of cinnamon or black pepper spiciness. It had an almost inkiness to its color and the most profound memory of this wine was the dark chocolate lingering on the back of the palate (we tried with real dark French chocolate to verify). We decanted before making dinner and the wine didn’t really start to reveal itself for at least 2 hours. 2002 is young, almost infanticide, but it made us savor and rethink Merlot. I am a believer.
CLOS DES ANDES: Malbec 2002
I will confess that this was a whimsical purchase. We were in this very hip wine shop in downtown Mendoza city, Marcelino, when one of the owners, Federico, appeared to help us in our usual indecision as to which wine to buy for pre-dinner sipping. We bought it and ironically didn’t end up opening it that night so we brought it back to Chile. For some reason, we were under the impression that it was going to be a lackluster wine, TOTALLY NOT the case!
To give some background, Clos des Andes, is a joint project between Bodega Poesia with the cooperation of some collaborators from Bordeaux like Helene Garcin and Patrice Leveque (Clos L Eglise, Pomerol), Chateau Barde-Haut (St Emilion Grand Cru), Chateau Haut-Bergey and Chateau Branon (Pesac Leognan). The vineyard dates back to 1935 (average vine age of 70+ years), all premium Malbec. So the basic equation we are dealing with can be boiled down to old vines, excellent Mendocino “terroir”, plus that French know-how which equals wines with character that speak of a place and jaw-dropping elegance and quality.
My thoughts: Right on Federico with the rec, it really blew me away! This wine is elegant, complex, and delicious but not overpowering nor overconcentrated and extracted. It is one of those wines that for me speaks to that larger concept of a flavor and terroir, not a grape variety. It is well balanced, long, soft tannins, absolutely lovely and quite frankly, to my dismay, disappeared all to quickly (I was sharing the decanter with my significant other). For US$20, buy a case and the rest is history.
More to come on Argentina and its inspiring wines…
