Buenos Aires, AR
Half the team (Will and Julien) is on the ground in Northwestern Argentina checking in on the growing season (now at the halfway mark) and sampling some new wines from local winemakers.
Expect a full report soon... Will says he may have a line on one of the rarest wines in the Calchaqui Valley, made by none other than Raul Davalos (the winemaker behind our Tacana). More on that at a later time...
The rest of us are preparing shipments of additional French wines in time for the Christmas season. (If you haven’t ordered yours yet, there is still time... click here).
Speaking of Argentina, we had a high altitude treat on Thanksgiving Day: a 2012 vintage of Valle de Salta malbec... don’t recognize the name? It’s Tacana before it became Tacana!
The 2012 is the very first vintage we brought in from Argentina (served at a Bonner family wedding).
So how did it age?
Well, the plum really asserts itself – reminiscent of the dried fruit locals lay out on their mud rooftops during the summer and spring (the ultra-dry, high altitude climate requires no preservatives).
But this 2012 vintage is not fruity.
Notes of aged leather mix in with the plum to create a wine surprisingly similar to Italy’s prized Brunello, but with soft, lush tannins.
Having started with bottles of L’Intrus and the Domaine Anita Coeur de Vigneronne Beaujolais (French collection – both still available at this link), we brought the Valle de Salta 2012 in mid meal and continued sipping well after dessert, thinking back to the events of the past 7 years... and the many things we had to be thankful for...
Finally, we have no new video this week from Julien (he’s out of internet range). Here’s his tasting lesson “The Three Steps of Tasting Wine” for those of you who might have missed it:
Until next week,
The Wine Explorer
P.S. Champagne for New Years? A Châteauneuf-du-Pape or St-Emilion to impress that wine lover you know? We still have a limited number of cases of our French wines up for grabs. 20% off (and shipping is free, as always). Click here to check out our inventory...