Piattelli Vineyards – 2012 Premium Reserve Malbec
Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina
Retail: $24
Principal Winemaker: Valeria Antolin
My wife and I help out at wine competitions in San Diego and we came across a gold medal winner. When starting out learning about wines, I fell in love with big, bold wines like Malbecs. I transitioned to other reds like Boudreaux and Cabernet Sauvignon but felt it was time to retry my first love with this 2012 Piattelli Premium Reserve Malbec. I quickly found the color to be a dark ruby red which is appropriate for Malbecs so no surprises. I tasted the wine twice and for this tasting I left the last glass in the bottle for this review. There were no sediment so the wine must be filtered and the color of the wine is excellent.
The first aroma was woody oak which is likely from mix of American and French oak barrels. It was aged for eight months in oak barrels. There was a smokiness to the wine which complements the oak smell which gave me a sense of comfort like relaxing by a nice open fire in the forested woods. The two aromas blend well together. While not strong, I smelled a little vanilla with the wine. The aromas are distinguishable.
The bouquet of the wine was clean and I quickly sensed blackberries but couldn’t find the blueberries or lavender that the winemaker says there are. I did discover that lavender is not on the UC Davis Tasting wheel that I use.
The wine is a full body Malbec that you would expect to be opaque that means hard to see through the glass. The body of the wine I think is aggressive and drying. The tears or legs of this wine are thick and slow which again is expected in a good Malbec.
Now you want to know how did it taste? Piattelli Vineyards makes a smooth, good structure wine with a fair amount of tannins. I think the tannins are present due to the wine only aged in the bottle for six months. This wine will age nicely in a good cellar if you are disciplined enough not to drink it now. The wine has a warm alcohol taste which again complements the smoky, wooded oak aromas. The blackberry and vanilla go well together. As for the finish, it was pleasant and the aftertaste lasted approximately 15 seconds which I think it should have lasted longer. I wanted it to linger longer.
Overall I think this Malbec is between good and great which is probably why it was awarded a gold medal by a wine competition lead by Robert Whitley.
www.piattellivineyards.com
Food pairing: Steak, roast beef, barbecued lamb, beef or pork. Farmhouse cheddar cheese and dark chocolate.
Vineyard source: 100% on site. Grapes are hand-picked; no mechanical equipment used even in transporting the grapes to processing.
Vineyard certification: USDA certified organic
Harvest dates:
Vintage notes:
Yeast: Not disclosed
Fermentation: Steel tanks
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