Fincas Don Martino - Find them, Drink the wines!!
It's been a long time since I've posted on this blog. Guess I haven't really commited to blogging before. BUT the wines I tasted yesterday prompted me to get going again.
Fincas Don Martino from the Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza region of Argentina are worth finding. This is a TINY (40,000 bottles/year) winery that was started in 2000 by three friends. The good news is substantial - First, their winemaker has great experience, first with the Veronelli family in Italy, then with Alto Las Hormigas in Mendoza. Second, they managed to buy a TINY plot (7 ha) of 80 year old Malbec vines that form the foundation of their wines. These vines and this winemaker produce some amazing stuff.
About 3/4 of their production is "basic" Malbec if you can call delicious, complex Malbec from old vines "basic". They use French oak "inserts" in the stainless steel tanks to provide a little bit of oak character but there is no overt "oakiness" and, in fact, the oak seem to merely tie all the elements together. There is huge, dark berry fruit and subtle exotic spices, cinnamon, clove, mace, on the nose with touches of licorice and chocolate plus all the fruit and spice on the palate. The tannins are soft and silky and the finish is deliciously long.
The balance of their production is Reserva from a selection of the best grapes of the harvest. This is aged in French barrique for 14 months but again the oak is an integrating element and doesn't invade or overpower the wine. The result is a deeper, richer, longer version of the "basic" Malbec with the addition of lovely savoury notes on the nose and the palate.
These wines are something special and worth looking for. At the moment they are only available in the US through the Southern Wine Group (and in Argentina and Brazil if you're going to be that way). They are seeking agents in the UK and I hope to help them to find one. Gotta get this wine!
Fincas Don Martino from the Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza region of Argentina are worth finding. This is a TINY (40,000 bottles/year) winery that was started in 2000 by three friends. The good news is substantial - First, their winemaker has great experience, first with the Veronelli family in Italy, then with Alto Las Hormigas in Mendoza. Second, they managed to buy a TINY plot (7 ha) of 80 year old Malbec vines that form the foundation of their wines. These vines and this winemaker produce some amazing stuff.
About 3/4 of their production is "basic" Malbec if you can call delicious, complex Malbec from old vines "basic". They use French oak "inserts" in the stainless steel tanks to provide a little bit of oak character but there is no overt "oakiness" and, in fact, the oak seem to merely tie all the elements together. There is huge, dark berry fruit and subtle exotic spices, cinnamon, clove, mace, on the nose with touches of licorice and chocolate plus all the fruit and spice on the palate. The tannins are soft and silky and the finish is deliciously long.
The balance of their production is Reserva from a selection of the best grapes of the harvest. This is aged in French barrique for 14 months but again the oak is an integrating element and doesn't invade or overpower the wine. The result is a deeper, richer, longer version of the "basic" Malbec with the addition of lovely savoury notes on the nose and the palate.
These wines are something special and worth looking for. At the moment they are only available in the US through the Southern Wine Group (and in Argentina and Brazil if you're going to be that way). They are seeking agents in the UK and I hope to help them to find one. Gotta get this wine!
posted by The Nose Knows at 2:51 PM
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