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Search Flickinger Wine Inventory
Inventory updated: Mon, Aug 19, 2019 04:02 PM cst
Your search criteria:
Regions: Argentina
| Producer |
Vint. |
Wine |
Price |
Qty |
Order |
| | Argentina |
| Bodega Catena Zapata |
2014 |
Adrianna Vyd. Fortuna Terrae Malbec  |
$119.99 |
4 |
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JS 98 (6/2017): This is another phenomenal Fortuna Terrae that just rolls across the palate with amazingly complex and beautiful fruit. Full body yet tight and refined. Berry, light meat, mushroom and truffle character. Made from organically grown grapes. Love now.
WA 96 (6/2018): The 2014 Adrianna Vineyard Fortuna Terrae is from slightly deeper soils of the Adrianna vineyard in Gualtallary at 1,340 meters in altitude, and it is the "less" expensive of the three Adrianna bottlings. All of these wines ferment in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels and are aged in French barrels for 24 months. This is the one with more exuberant and floral aromas, open and showy within the austere style of the vineyard and the year. This is also the more open of the three. The palate reveals a silky texture with very fine tannins and great freshness. 6,000 bottles produced. it was bottled in July 2016.
VM 95+ (7/2017): (from deeper soils than the River Stones bottling, and even higher in acidity; from 22-year-old vines that produced just 1.6 tons per acre of fruit): Bright ruby-red. Crushed blackberry, licorice, minerals and menthol on the nose, lifted by a violet topnote. Penetrating acidity and pungent minerality give the middle palate rapier-like cut. The youthful red berry flavors are compellingly deep and convey an exhilarating tart edge. The rising, palate-staining, floral finish showcases this site's fruit intensity and grip. A great wine in the making. These vines at an altitude of 4,725 feet are planted on calcaire soil similar to that used for the White Bones Chardonnay; the powerful acidity here is just over 5 grams per liter. Stephen Tanzer. |
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2013 |
Adrianna Vyd. Mundus Bacillus Malbec |
$239.99 |
3 |
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WA 97 (12/2016): There are three separate bottling from the Adrianna vineyard, one of them the 2013 Adrianna Vineyard Mundus Bacillus Terrae, from the shallow and limestone soils with a south-facing, cold exposure, that was coupled by a cool year. This has higher acidity and citric, effervescent acidity combined with chalky tannins providing length and freshness. This is terrific. 2,000 bottles were filled in December 2015.
JS 96 (6/2017): A generous and fruity wine with phenomenal depth and character. Full body, layered and beautiful with such gorgeous fruit character of berry, floral and hints of cream. Tangy and vivid. Hints of tangerine and stone in the aftertaste. Drink now but a wine to last for years. Made from organically grown grapes.
VM 94+ (3/2016): (these vines on shallow limestone soil are protected from the worst of the afternoon sun; there's huge organic material in the soil by Argentine standards, notes Alejandro Vigil): Bright saturated ruby to the rim. Crushed blackberry and smoky, saline soil tones on the nose. Utterly imploded on the palate, with penetrating acidity and saline minerality contributing to the wine's great inner-mouth tension. Powerfully structured, juicy, tannic wine with a long life ahead of it. "In a more Nebbiolo style," notes Vigil, who fermented the wine in old barrels and aged it in 2,000-liter barrels, none new. With a pH of 3.4, this wine should age at a snail's pace and may ultimately be the best of these 2013s. According to Vigil this 1994 planting was the first in Gualtallary. Stephen Tanzer. |
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2013 |
Argentino Vyd. Malbec |
$105.99 |
5 |
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WA 95 (12/2016): They blend two plots from two of their flagship vineyards, Adrianna in Gualtallary and Nicasia in Altamira to create the 2013 Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino. It is a classical Malbec with some creamy, smoky notes, juicy, polished and fresh but with enough power to stand up to food. Some 11,000 were bottles produced.
VM 94 (7/2017): (13.9% alcohol; the wine's Viognier component was vinified with whole clusters): Bright medium ruby. Blackberry, licorice and a hint of violet pastille on the almost candied nose. Wonderfully refined, tactile, savory Malbec with terrific intensity and depth and a near-perfect sugar/acid balance to its dark berry, floral and sweet oak flavors. Quite primary today but already remarkably sexy, this juicy, very long wine should evolve spectacularly in bottle. But it will need time to absorb its dusty, broad tannins and gain in complexity. The pH here is a reasonable 3.65. Stephen Tanzer.
JS 93 (6/2017): A linear and refined red with blackberry, hints of bark and tea on the nose and palate. Bright acidity. Medium body, fine tannins and a medium chewy finish. Shows tension and focus. Drink now or hold. |
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2015 |
Argentino Vyd. Malbec |
$123.50 |
33 |
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| WA 95 (6/2018): The 2015 Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino blends grapes from Angélica Vineyard in Lunlunta and Nicasia Vineyard in Altamira. It's a classical Malbec that fermented in 225- and 500-liter rolling oak fermentors and matured in French barrique for 18 months. They have changed the image and also the blend for this wine, which is now all from old vines. The label shows the history of Malbec with four relevant women (including Madam Phylloxera!) from the 12th century to the rebirth in the 20th century. This is ripe and heady, very open and expressive, with violets and juicy fruit. This is a new blend to break the tendency of so many single-vineyard bottlings and goes back to the blending traditions of the past. It shows really well—expressive, open and ready. It kept growing and growing in the glass, becoming more focused and even more fresh, at one point getting very close to the freshness of the 2016! 24,000 bottles produced. |
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| Bodega Noemia de Patagonia |
2013 |
Noemia Malbec |
$79 |
4 |
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| WA 97 (8/2015): Still a baby, the 2013 Noemía is possibly the best ever produced at this address, and I can say so because I had the luxury to taste all the vintages ever produced since 2001 (no 2005 was bottled). This pure Malbec is sourced from a 1.5-hectare vineyard planted in 1932 in Mainque in Río Negro, Patagonia. The wine is always raised in brand new French oak barriques for some 18 months, but it's a wine made for the long haul. Right now there are some notes of exotic woods and spices intermixed with aromas of blueberries, blood oranges, violets and even rose petals and it is developing subtle nuances as the wine warms up in the glass. The palate has a cool effect, maybe it's the acidity or the chalky tannins that stick to your teeth and leave a tasty, umami-like, almost salty sensation of deep coolness in your mouth. Precise and pure, the tannins are sophisticated and the overall balance is superb. My guess is that this will evolve magnificently and for a long time in bottle. As far as track record, even the initial 2001 when tasted in 2015 was not over the hill, and the vineyards and winery work has improved greatly since then, so I'm sure this will be very long-lived. Let's check it back in ten years time. Kudos to winemaker Hans Vinding Diers! 5,500 bottles of this heavenly elixir were produced. |
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2013 |
Noemia Malbec Bin-Soiled Label |
$79 |
2 |
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| WA 97 (8/2015): Still a baby, the 2013 Noemía is possibly the best ever produced at this address, and I can say so because I had the luxury to taste all the vintages ever produced since 2001 (no 2005 was bottled). This pure Malbec is sourced from a 1.5-hectare vineyard planted in 1932 in Mainque in Río Negro, Patagonia. The wine is always raised in brand new French oak barriques for some 18 months, but it's a wine made for the long haul. Right now there are some notes of exotic woods and spices intermixed with aromas of blueberries, blood oranges, violets and even rose petals and it is developing subtle nuances as the wine warms up in the glass. The palate has a cool effect, maybe it's the acidity or the chalky tannins that stick to your teeth and leave a tasty, umami-like, almost salty sensation of deep coolness in your mouth. Precise and pure, the tannins are sophisticated and the overall balance is superb. My guess is that this will evolve magnificently and for a long time in bottle. As far as track record, even the initial 2001 when tasted in 2015 was not over the hill, and the vineyards and winery work has improved greatly since then, so I'm sure this will be very long-lived. Let's check it back in ten years time. Kudos to winemaker Hans Vinding Diers! 5,500 bottles of this heavenly elixir were produced. |
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| Piattelli Vineyards |
2012 |
Arlene Serie Proprietary Blend |
$25 |
2 |
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| WA 88 (8/2015): The 2012 Arlene is a blend, mostly Malbec and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, produced for the first time in this vintage. The grapes fermented in six rolling barrels. The fruit feels very ripe, on the verge of being overripe, with something organic and earthy and also quite oaky. The palate shows similar characteristics and quite a lot of dusty tannins that coat your tongue and leave a drying sensation. 3,600 bottles produced. |
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| Pulenta |
2016 |
La Flor Mendoza Rose |
$14.99 |
2 |
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| The Seeker |
2014 |
Mendoza Malbec |
$10 |
1 |
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| Terrazas de Los Andes |
2014 |
Cheval des Andes |
$69.95 |
51 |
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WA 97 (6/2018): The 2014 Cheval des Andes is a different blend than previous years and contains a high percentage of Malbec and more Petit Verdot than Cabernet Sauvignon. This reflects the strict selection they had to do in a rainy year that was very challenging for Cabernet Sauvignon, especially in certain parts of the traditional vine-growing regions of Mendoza. The final breakdown of the blend is 83% Malbec, 9% Petit Verdot and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is from the first of a series of three wet vintages where they see lower temperatures as an advantage to get where they want to go. They are more after elegance, freshness and complexity rather than power. In this vintage, they only used 15% new oak for the élevage in order to preserve the fresh aromatic expression of Malbec, and the aging lasted 15 months. It's incredibly fresh and floral, superbly balanced and very charming. This is the year with the most Malbec ever; it was an accident, but it was the kind of Malbec they like. They generally aim to have more Cabernet in the blend, but that wasn't possible in this low-yielding vintage. The palate is very balanced and elegant, with very good freshness and some restraint, not alcoholic or sweet at all. They find a lot of similarities with 2014 in Bordeaux—classical, fresh, quite transparent and juicy but precise. This has to be the best Cheval des Andes I've tried so far. They tell me this is the first vintage that really follows the style they want to produce in Argentina, with balance, complexity and freshness, away from high alcohol, extraction, oak and excess. The style will be slightly different since there will be more Cabernet Sauvignon, and their final target might be around 50/50 Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.
JS 95 (6/2017): A rich and round-textured red with gentle tannins and a flavorful finish. Full-bodied, round and succulent. This is 84% malbec and the rest is cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. Drink now.
VM 93 (7/2018): (14.6% alcohol; just 15% new oak; 100% from estate vines, about three-quarters from the rockiest portion of the company's Las Compuertas vineyard and the rest from Altamira): Bright ruby-red. Very fresh black and blue fruits, menthol, spices and licorice on the nose and palate, complicated by mint, minerals and medicinal herbs (the Cabernet Sauvignon is apparent here). Still a baby but already displays a Malbec juiciness and firm underlying structure. Suave in texture, offering noteworthy delicacy and clarity. Winemaker Lorenzo Pasquini cut back substantially on new oak in 2014 (he normally uses 30% to 50%) and used only French barrels. Not a large-scaled wine but refreshing, suave, complex and intense, with lovely cut. Finishes with excellent spicy length, round tannins and hints of licorice and black olive. Stephen Tanzer.
WS 92 (10/2018): Powerful, inky and ripe-tasting, with muscular dark fruit flavors that feature plenty of smoky notes. Dark chocolate and cream details show on the long, plush finish. Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2022. 1,300 cases imported. |
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