Paco Puga Contemporaneo – 2021

7,545 ft.
Cabernet franc, Malbec, Merlot
95 pts (Atkin)

Every year we find ourselves sourcing a new Paco Puga wine. The man is always doing something fascinating: making Burgundian-style wine with malbec, say, or challenging three friends to each create a separate wine then blending them all together with his own. It’s always out of left field and it always works. 

With Contemporaneo, Paco invites three grapes to share the spotlight simultaneously. A lesser winemaker might make quite a mess with that concept, but once again Paco pulls it off brilliantly, borrowing elegance from the cab franc, freshness from the merlot, and power from the malbec.

In the nose and on the palate you’ll find blackberries, blueberries, black pepper and spice, with notes of tobacco and vanilla floating in the distance (Contemporaneo spends 12 months in French oak).