Tacuil 33 de Dávalos – 2020

8,202 ft.
Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
93 pts (Atkin)

Long time Partnership members will know the name Dávalos well by now: the reclusive winemaking genius holed up in his impregnable little valley, where, over 200 years ago, his ancestor Ascensión, founder of the oldest winery in Argentina, brought the first malbec vines to the Calchaquí.

It’s unclear if the vines that produced this wine are her originals, but at least some of them are pre-phylloxera and about 200 years old. You drink history when you open this bottle. The name, too, is laden with genealogical significance. Don José Dávalos, who ran the winery in the 1920s, also bred horses and used “33 de Dávalos” as his brand.  

After harvesting from vines with deep roots in the rocky soil on the banks of the Mayuco river, Raul and his brother Alvaro chose to go organic and use no oak – letting this stallion of a wine rip with spice, pepper, and ripe fruit. Mineral notes hit once on the palate followed by a long finish.