2010 Achaval-Ferrer Malbec Finca Bella Vista Perdriel

Bright medium ruby. Utterly uncompromising aromas and flavors of blackcurrant, cherry pit, flowers and crushed rock. Savory, dusty and very light on its feet, with superb vinosity and clarity of flavor. Conveys an impression of strong saline extract and little in the way of easy sweetness. A wine of outstanding energy and class, finishing with a firm tannic spine, pungent minerality and uncanny subtle persistence. My recorked bottle was still great after 72 hours in the refrigerator.

The Bella Vista is always based on four hectares planted in 1910 and is normally the second vineyard harvested each year. The 2010 Finca Bella Vista is a pure Malbec from Lujan de Cuyo located at 980 meters altitude. Fermented in cement and aged for 16 months in new French barriques from the Mercurey cooperage, it has a sublime bouquet of blackberry, briary, woodland aromas and sous-bois that is all succinctly defined. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe, fine tannins surrounding a core of pure blackberry and wild strawberry fruit, interlaced by lemon rind and dark chocolate towards the controlled, refined finish. This is class from start to finish. Drink 2013-2020+. Achaval Ferrer should need no introduction to anyone with a passing interest in Argentinean wine, a paradigm of how far the country has progressed over the last decade. In 2011, founders Santiago Achaval and Manuel Ferrer sold a large percentage of shares to the SPI group that owns Stolichnaya vodka as well as shares in Tenuto d’Ornellaia and Frescobaldi, although both Ferrer and Achaval remain on the managing board. Instead of visiting the winery (which I intend to do in the future), I tasted wines past and present with Santiago in London, where I was afforded more time to plot the wine’s development in the glass. The tasting was no revelation, since I have encountered and appreciated the wines for many years. They are well-crafted, very pure and stylistically equidistant between Old World and New. My reviews will seem meaner and the scores more parsimonious than might be anticipated. It simply reflects where I see the wines in the context of such a comprehensive overview of a dynamic country – great wines for sure and very consistent, but perhaps others have stepped up their game? The older vintages have certainly held up well, although a demanding connoisseur would expect more in the way of secondary aromas and flavors to replace the lost primary ones. Importer: TGIC Imports, Woodland Hills, CA; tel. (818) 225-5100; and Corney & Barrow (UK)