2016 Noemia de Patagonia Malbec

Cropped from an almost perfect growing season when the grapes ripened slowly, the 2016 Noemía is pure Malbec from one single plot of vines planted in 1932 and comes through as aromatic, floral, perfumed, open, showy and impressive. They used 25% full clusters (higher than in the past) for the vinification this year, and the wine matured in Darnajou oak demi-muids for a shorter amount of time than ever before—just 15 months—when it used to have an élevage of 18 months or longer. This is the result of winemaker Hans Vinding Diers now living on the property and following up on the vineyard and wine every day. It's open, impressive and captivating from minute one—as soon as I put my nose in the glass, I had to smile. The palate is elegant with refined tannins, bright fruit and subtle minerality, nicely textured. It's super tasty and elegant, with less alcohol than ever, yet it has not lost any of its clout and is still powerful and seems to have all that is needed for a nice, long life in bottle. This was bottled earlier than other vintages. It has to be one of the finest vintages of Noemía to date. Only 4,200 bottles were filled in August 2017.