2009 Finca Bella Vista Malbec

Very dark purple. Intense, opulent. Animal and then with lots of acidity but not a very comfortable whole. Very marked green acidity. Rhubarb flavours. Falls off on the finish. (JR)

(90+-year-old vines grown at 3,100 feet; 14 h/h; all three of these high-end malbecs spent 15 months in all-new French oak): Deep, bright ruby. Brooding aromas of blackberry, tar, licorice, violet and bitter chocolate. Dense, suave and vibrant, with superb inner-mouth energy to the black fruit, licorice and violet flavors. Really beautifully integrated acidity shows an almost peppery pungency. Finishes very long and lively, with noble, fine-grained tannins and a palate-saturating impression of extract.

The 2009 Finca Bella Vista was sourced from a vineyard planted in 1910 giving a miserly yield of 0.75 tons per acre. It displays slightly blacker fruit, a bit more depth and opulence, and a finish that seems endless. Give it 5-6 years of cellaring and enjoy it from 2016 to 2029+. Achaval-Ferrer, under the direction of CEO Santiago Achaval and winemaker Roberto Cipresso, stands at the summit of Argentina wine producers. The benchmark Finca bottlings are limited (under 1000 cases produced of each) so the best way to discover the pleasures of Achaval-Ferrer are through the entry-level Malbec of which there are 12,000 cases. Achaval-Ferrer is about to launch a new cuvee called Tempous, a blend of the three single vineyards. There are only 75 cases (3 barrels) produced of each vintage, so fans of the winery, be prepared to go to war to get your hands on a few bottles. The wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts, aged for 18 months in new French oak, and bottled without fining or filtration. Importer: TGIC Imports, Woodland Hills, CA; tel. (818) 225-5100