2003 Viña Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard

According to Hobbs, 2003 was a better growing season than 2002. It was a low yielding vintage due to spring winds. The 2003 Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard offers greater aromatic complexity than its two older siblings. The fragrant bouquet reveals pain grille, pencil lead, spice box, floral notes, blueberry, and black cherry. This leads to a full-bodied, dense, rich wine with a velvety texture that manages to come off as elegant despite its immense size. Ripe, savory black fruits, spice notes, coffee, and chocolate emerge on the palate concealing enough structure for another 6-8 years of evolution. Although it can be enjoyed now, for optimum pleasure drink it between 2015 and 2035. Vina Cobos is Paul Hobbs’ winery in Mendoza. He is better known (at least for the moment) to USA connoisseur/collectors for his namesake winery in Napa Valley which has received many accolades (including 100-point scores from Robert Parker) for its Cabernets, Pinot Noirs, and Chardonnays. What is less well known is that Hobbs is a pioneer in fine wine production in Argentina, having started there in 1988 with Nicolas Catena. Senor Catena gives Hobbs much credit for the success of Catena-Zapata’s Chardonnay program. He has since extended his consulting efforts both in Argentina and Chile but the capstone of Hobbs’ work is Vina Cobos which began in 1998 and moved into its own winery facility in 2007. The first vintage of the top-of-the-line Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard was 1998 but it was ruined by rain and never sold in the USA. 2000 and 2001 were not up to par, 2000 being the El Nino year and 2001 being too dilute, resulting in their declassification. Importer: Paul Hobbs Imports, Sebastopol, CA; tel. (707) 824-9879