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Search Flickinger Wine Inventory
Inventory updated: Fri, Feb 15, 2019 05:02 PM cst
Your search criteria:
Regions: Argentina
| Producer |
Vint. |
Wine |
Price |
Qty |
Order |
| | Argentina |
| Bodega Vina de 1924 Angeles |
2008 |
Gran Malbec  |
$40 |
1 |
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| VM 90 (3/2012): Good deep ruby-red. Boysenberry, blackberry, dark chocolate, mocha and sexy oak on the nose, plus a whiff of stony minerality. Rich, deep, dark berry and chocolate flavors show a truffley nuance, as well as a liqueur-like quality buffered by adequate acidity. A bit aggressive with alcohol but the echoing finish features a fine dusting of tannins and excellent length. This outsized, no-holds-barred malbec remains just this side of over the top. Stephen Tanzer. |
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| Bodegas Caro (Barons de Rothschild) |
2006 |
Caro Proprietary Blend |
$40 |
2 |
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| Bodega Catena Zapata |
2015 |
Argentino Vyd. Malbec |
$102.99 |
34 |
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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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2004 |
Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon |
$40 |
1 |
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| WS 93 (5/2008): This is a gorgeous, streamlined, modern Cabernet, with cocoa powder, loam, fig paste and molten chocolate notes that glide over ripe, well-imbedded tannins. The long, dark finish is really alluring. Drink now through 2011. 825 cases imported. |
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2004 |
Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon Lightly Bin-Soiled Label |
$40 |
1 |
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| WS 93 (5/2008): This is a gorgeous, streamlined, modern Cabernet, with cocoa powder, loam, fig paste and molten chocolate notes that glide over ripe, well-imbedded tannins. The long, dark finish is really alluring. Drink now through 2011. 825 cases imported. |
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2006 |
Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon |
$25 |
1 |
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2004 |
Catena Alta Malbec |
$40 |
2 |
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2002 |
Nicolas Catena Malbec Lightly Bin-Soiled Label |
$99 |
1 |
|
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2004 |
Nicolas Catena Malbec Very Lightly Bin-Soiled Label |
$99 |
1 |
|
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2004 |
Nicolas Catena Malbec Scuffed Label |
$99 |
1 |
|
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2009 |
Nicolas Catena Malbec |
$89 |
1 |
|
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| Bodega Norton |
2010 |
Privada Very Lightly Nicked Label |
$20 |
1 |
|
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2010 |
Privada Very Lightly Bin-Soiled Label |
$20 |
1 |
|
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2011 |
Privada Very Lightly Scuffed Label |
$20 |
1 |
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| Piattelli Vineyards |
2012 |
Arlene Serie Proprietary Blend |
$25 |
3 |
|
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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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| Terrazas de Los Andes |
2004 |
Cheval des Andes |
$73 |
5 |
|
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WA 93 (12/2007): The 2004 Cheval des Andes is composed of 55% Malbec, 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot. Purple-colored, it offers a complex bouquet of pain grille, violets, pencil lead, black cherry, and black currant. This is followed by a medium to full-bodied, elegant wine with a smooth texture, intense flavors, and Outstanding length. There is enough hidden tannin to support 8-10 years of further evolution in the bottle and it should continue to drink well through 2030.
VM 91+ (1/2008): (a blend of 55% malbec, 43% cabernet sauvignon and 2% petit verdot) Saturated bright ruby. Singular nose offers dark berries, fresh herbs, flowers and an exotic whiff of apricot. Suave, juicy and lively, with the white fruit quality carrying through on the wonderfully delineated palate. Very subtle flavors of dark berries, bitter cherry, tobacco leaf, musky earth and fresh herbs. Not a sweet style but plenty ripe, with serious but well-integrated acidity. I find this fascinating for its energy and restrained sweetness, not to mention its sexy exotic character. Finishes very long and firmly tannic but not hard. This wine is a joint venture between Cheval Blanc and Terrazas de los Andes, and one can clearly see the hand of Cheval Blanc director Pierre Lurton. May well merit an even higher score with five or six years of bottle aging. Stephen Tanzer.
WS 89 (5/2008): Concentrated, with good grip to the sage, ganache, fig, plum sauce and black licorice flavors that rumble through the dark, loamy finish. Solid, if a bit heavy in style. Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2010. 1,000 cases imported. |
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2013 |
Cheval des Andes |
$74.95 |
3 |
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JS 98 (5/2016): The purity of fruit is so impressive here with flowers, dark fruit, and strawberries. Full body, ultra-fine tannins, and a focus and beauty that makes you think. So long and elegant. 67% malbec, 25% cabernet sauvignon and 8% petit verdot.
WA 96 (12/2016): At Cheval des Andes they consider 2013 as a warm vintage, because even if the winter saw average temperatures, the spring and summer were warmer than normal. The 2013 Cheval des Andes came up to 67% Malbec, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Petit Verdot mostly from their vineyards at Las Compuertas at some 1,1000 meters altitude and some fruit from their 15 hectares at La Consulta in the Valle de Uco, that they use when they don't find it too ripe. Even if they tend to pick early, the bottled wine is a ripe and heady blend hitting the scale at 15% alcohol fermented relatively warm (28 degrees Celsius) for some 25 days. After malolactic in tank, all different lots go into barrel and they try to make the blend as soon as possible, usually during the first winter so the wine ages together for some 15 to 18 months in French oak barriques. They have reduced the amount of new wood used (only 30%) to avoid overwhelming the fruit with aromas but providing complexity and clarifying the wine naturally. From this vintage onward they have been able to not acidify the wine, as they changed their approach to viticulture, and they are now able to burn the green notes and harvest early, with natural acidity and lower alcohol. The key to this is to get something like 30-35 hectoliters per hectare. I think this is absolutely the right approach, and this change started in 2010--with 100% estate fruit, no oenological products used, fresh maturity without greenness through lower yields. In 2013, they consider they have achieved what they want, but kept improving in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The 2014 had just been bottled and I didn't have the chance to taste it, but they told me they prefer 2014 to 2013. If that is the case, 2014 should be mind-blowing, because 2013 is simply superb. To Pierre Olivier Clouet, another key point is how to manage irrigation. The result of all this is more and more precise wines, with greater definition, purity and freshness. They are also avoiding residual sugar, s
VM 94 (7/2017): Bright, dark ruby. Sexy oaky high tones to the classy scents of blackberry, cassis, licorice pastille, tobacco leaf and violet. Wonderfully fine-grained wine with a seamless, velvety texture and terrific restrained sweetness to its blackberry, licorice and mineral flavors. Very penetrating, savory, rather powerful wine with terrific ripe tannins, a repeating licorice pastille quality and outstanding rising length. Really terrific subtle sweetness of fruit here. Has the density of texture and energy for a slow and eventful evolution in bottle. Stephen Tanzer.
WS 92 (7/2017): Offers a rich, loamy aroma, with flavors to match, along with plenty of roasted plum and dark cherry elements. Well-structured, showing mocha notes on the dense finish. Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2021. 1,300 cases imported. |
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|
2014 |
Cheval des Andes |
$69.95 |
60 |
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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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| Tikal |
2006 |
Amorio Malbec |
$25 |
4 |
|
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| VM 90+ (1/2008): Bright ruby. Tight, primary aromas of crushed dark berries, mocha, fresh herbs, pepper and cocoa powder, with a whiff of exotic dried fruits. Intensely flavored, focused and bright, with firm acidity framing the dark fruit and pepper flavors. Finishes with a liqueur-like sweetness, suave tannins and lovely length and lift. Still quite youthfully tight-in fact, a bit grapey today and in need of patience. Stephen Tanzer. |
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