Nuna Malbec Reserve 2015
Nuna Bonarda Reserve is made from 100% hand-selected Bonarda from the best parcels of the estate.
The grapes are carefully chosen and fermented in small lots to preserve the vineyard identity.
Alcoholic fermentation for 12 days with indigenous and selected yeasts, at temperatures of 26 and 30°C, combining, remontage, pigeage and delestage in order to obtain the best quality of tannins and structure.
The resulting wine is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels to fully reveal the character of the Andean terroir.
Purple-colored Bonarda offers a fruity, fresh nose featuring plums, mulberries and violets. Fruity, forward and easy-going, Bonarda is the perfect match to Argentine bistro cuisine.
The Torrontés exhibits a fragrant, floral, honey-accented perfume followed by a full-bodied dry wine with a smooth texture and ripe flavors. An aromatic white wine.
The grapes are carefully chosen and fermented in small lots to preserve the vineyard identity. Age of the Vineyard: 45 years. Fermentation with selected yeasts at 14°C- 18°C.
Spicy and savory food, especially Chinese or Thai cuisine.
Casir dos Santos Estate Reserve Malbec is 100 percent Malbec.
Aged 8 months in French oak barrels and then 6 months in the bottle.
Presents an intense red color with glints of bordeaux. Great aromatic intensity. It expresses red ripe fruits and vanilla due to the well-integrated wood. In the mouth it’s balanced with round and sweet tannins, rich and persistent.
Coming from a sustainable 50-year old plot, grapes are crushed, destemmed and go through pre-fermentative maceration at 11ºC for 24 hours. Alcoholic fermentation in tanks. 4 weeks of maceration with must. Aged in French oak barrels for 8 months, Malolactic fermentation in contact with fine lees.
Review:
"A tight and chewy wine with polished tannins and a savory finish. Lots going on here but in a reserved way. Drink or hold."
- James Suckling (June 2017), 91 pts
The Malbec is round and fleshy, with enticing crushed plum and boysenberry fruit enlivened by a liquorice snap note.
The grapes are carefully chosen and fermented in small lots to preserve the vineyard identity. Alcoholic fermentation for 12 days with indigenous and selected yeasts, at temperatures of 26 and 30°C, combining, remontage, pigeage and delestage in order to obtain the best quality of tannins and structure.
The Nuna Estate
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Nuna is produced in a state-of-the-art winery, Chakana, built with the purpose of achieving outstanding quality.
Chakana winery was founded by Juan Pelizzatti on May 2nd, 2002. Juan was driven to enter the wine industry first and foremost by his passion for wine, and also by the desire to invest his time and money on a product of agriculture. Although Juan did not know it at the time, the company was founded on the same day the Chakana was celebrated on the Andes highlands: on that same day, the Southern Cross (the Chakana for the Inca people) becomes vertical in the night Andean sky.
Juan's mission is to create an integral experience to introduce world consumers to the taste and culture of the Andes. His vision is to become one of the top 20 exporters of wine from Argentina, by consistently offering outstanding value for money.
Wine is currently produced in four different levels at Chakana, by winemaker Gabriel Bloise:
Entry Level: Maipe
Reserve Level: Maipe Reserve, Cueva de las Manos, Nuna
Estate Selection
Ayni
The winemaking process is focused on treating the grapes with great care and with strict control of every step of the production.
Wines are designed under the responsibility of the renowned international wine consultant Alberto Antonini.
The winery is located on a 150 ha. estate, 34 km South of the city of Mendoza, in Agrelo, Lujan de Cuyo.
The grapes grown are 35 year-old Malbec, Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Deep and textured soils facilitate plant development and confer great body and structure to the wines.
The year-long sunny and dry conditions allow almost organic viticulture practices. The outstanding feature includes a great daily thermal amplitude, with mild days and cold nights, permitting a particular richness of polifenols that improves the wines flavors and color.
A drip irrigation system has been set up to achieve a precise control of the vegetative cycle and a rational use of water. Waters are processed and used in the vineyards.
The Nuna Estate Vineyards
Chakana sources grapes from their own four estates:
Agrelo
Acreage: 150 ha, 120 ha with vineyards
70 ha entry level
40 ha reserve level
10 ha estate & ayni
Acreage by varietal at Agrelo Estate:
Malbec: 50 ha
Cabernet Sauvignon: 30 ha
Syrah: 10 ha
Bonarda: 10 ha
Tannat: 2,5 ha
Petit Verdot: 2.5 ha
Cabernet Franc: 1.5 ha
Aspirant Bouchet: 2.5 ha
Ancellotta: 2 ha
Sauvignon Blanc: 4 ha
Viognier: 2.5 ha
Chardonnay: 2.5 ha
Wine Profile: Medium bodied, elegant, fresher fruit. Round tannin on gravels.
Terroir: Very heterogeneous – deep clay to sandy clay gravels; cool climate
Altamira I
Acreage: 15 ha, Malbec high density. Planted in 2010, not in production
Wine Profile: Full bodied, impressive tannic structure and roundness, spicy and complex.
Terroir: Sandy clay gravel, limestone; cooler climate
Altamira II
Acreage: 36 ha, 26 ha with vineyards
20 ha malbec, estate and ayni level
4 ha chardonnay, entry level and reserve
2 ha pinot noir (used for sparkling wine)
Wine Profile: Medium bodied, elegant, fresher fruit. Round tannin on gravels.
Terroir: Very heterogeneous – deep clay to sandy clay gravels; cool climate
Terrada
Acreage: 21 ha, all in vines
100% malbec, old vines, high density
Reserve – Estate Selection
Wine Profile: Complex, ripe fruit, medium bodied, elegant.
Terroir: Sandy clay gravels, 70cm. soil depth, Some limestone; warmer climate.
They also source wines from contract suppliers in Ugarteche and Medrano, for entry level wines, and in Vista Flores, for Estate Selection & Ayni levels.
Alain Jaume Domaine du Clos de Sixte Lirac is made from 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre
An intense red garnet color. On the nose, aromas of red and black ripe fruit (kirsch and wild blackberry). The mouth is full, with aromas of blackcurrant liqueur and spice. Tannins are both harmonious and elegant thanks to the fleshiness of the wine. Hints of licorice and vanilla on the finish, which gives the wine length and complexity.
Soil type LIRAC vineyard is facing Chateauneuf du Pape, opposite side of the Rhône river. As showed by the picture and following geologist George Truc, soils are almost similar in both side. They are marked by the violence wrought by the Rhone river. It consists of a layer of marine molasses of the Miocene period covered by alpine alluvium. The presence of a great number of rounded stones known as "galets" in the earth is evidence of the time when the Rhone, then a torrent, tore fragments of rock from the Alps and deposited them on the plain. LIRAC is one of the up-coming best area from the southern Rhône valley, as it delivers outstanding wines. Winemaking & ageing Traditional wine-making in stainless still vats. Hand sorted bunches, crushed and destemmed grapes. Fermentation temperature : 30°C. 18 days of vatting with pigeages.
Review:
"The 2015 Lirac Clos de Sixte comes from an appellation that shares a similar terroir with Chateauneuf du Pape, yet is located just across the river, on the western side of the Rhone. It’s a serious, large scaled, voluptuous effort that that has lots of ripe tannin, a bid mid-palate and copious amounts of blackberries, black cherries, scorched earth, licorice and roasted herbs. One of the bigger boned and concentrated reds in the lineup, it will have a decade of longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue 227, October 28th 2016), 91-93 pts
Tasting Notes: Deep, dark ruby color, aromas of blue fruits, confectionery and subtle licorice characters, thick luscious palate with good structure and soft finish.
The Blend is 44% Rubired, 31% Durif and 25% Shiraz.
Rubired is a cross between Tinto Cao and Alicante Ganzin (which is itself a cross between Alicante Bouschet and Aramon Rupestris Ganzin). It is known for being particularly adapted to the hot climate and producing dark wines, as the color is not only coming from the grape's skin, but also from the grape juice itself. It was developed in 1958 by H.P. Olmo of the University of California Davis.
Durif, also known as Petite Sirah, is also a cross of two different grape varietals: Syrah and Peloursin. It was created by French botanist François Durif in 1860 while keeping Syrah and Peloursin plants under the same roof; it happened from a natural process called "cross-pollination." The grape itself is known for its very aromatic, plummy character.
Shiraz, which we all know for being the most recognized grape varietal of Australia, brings some minty, spicy and fruity characteristics to the wines.
Grapes are crushed and destemmed then placed in rotary fermenters where three rotations per day break up the cap and extract color and tannin. Commercial yeast is added for fermentation. The juice is pressed to stainless steel for malolactic fermentation, undergoes oak maturation for 9 months, then is stored in stainless steel.
Pairs well with BBQ lamb with roast vegetables.
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Marcassin Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The 2013 Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard may be even better. Notes of caramelized citrus, hazelnut, apple blossom, lemon oil and orange marmalade are all present in this wine of dazzling aromatic and flavor dimension. It is full-bodied, again shows some wet pebbles (which I equate with minerality), vibrant acidity, and no real evidence of any oak. Much like the 2012, the finish goes on for 45+ seconds. This is another killer Chardonnay from Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer. -Wine Advocate 100 Points
What an extraordinary tasting this was at the Marcassin winery just north of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. Just when you think the duo of Helen Turley and John Wetlaufer can’t make greater wines, they bowl over the taster with an array of exquisite quality that really must be tasted to be believed. Marcassin was probably California’s greatest Chardonnay after the famous Chalone winery fell from the pinnacle and onto hard times in the 1980s (and it has yet to rebound). Moreover, Marcassin set the bar for great Pinot Noir as well. And while both their Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have many competitors these days (from the likes of Harford Court, Mark Aubert, Kistler, Kongsgaard, DuMol, Thomas Brown, Peter Michael, Martinelli and Luc Morlet, to name a few), John Wetlaufer and Helen Turley remain the reigning geniuses of these two varietals in California. Certainly, their meticulous attention to detail in both the vineyard and in the winemaking and élevage account for the quality, but they were among the pioneers who saw the unlimited potential from the Sonoma Coast, now a relatively crowded neighborhood. This was a remarkable tasting that simply blew me away, and I have been following their wines since the first Marcassins were made in the early 1990s. By the way, any doubts about aging potential should be crushed immediately, as even in the most challenging vintages in California, Marcassin Chardonnays and Pinots have aged as well as, if not better than just about any grand cru white Burgundy. For example, 1995 and 1996 Chardonnays, particularly those from the Lorenzo Vineyard, are incredibly youthful and dynamic, and the Marcassin Estate Pinot Noir, even from vintages such as 1998, is simply amazing.
The three Chardonnays tasted include two perfect wines. Perhaps the closest comparison is not to anything made in California, but a Corton-Charlemagne in a top vintage from the famous Jean François Coche-Dury.
