The Tasting Panel magazine

September 2015

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september 2015  /  the tasting panel  /  73 One can begin to see how many personalities Argentinian Malbec might have by looking at three of the Nieto Senetiner wines. They derive from sites in two of Argentina's most significant and highest-quality Malbec appellations. Today, the Nieto Senetiner Don Nicanor Estate Malbec, Mendoza ($19) is a blend of fruit from small patches of old vines in Luján de Cuyo (Argentina's first appellation, immediately southwest from the town of Mendoza) and Uco Valley (further south than Luján and featuring significant diurnal temperature variation). The wine is deeply colored and smells of spicy blackberry, plum, tobacco, dusty earth and espresso powder. There are pretty accents of blueberry and dark flowers. Those flavors recur on the long, balanced palate of medium-plus body, acidity and fine, soft, persistent tannins. It's a very good and drinkable wine with complexity stemming not just from the blend of regions, but two different picking dates in each, plus aging in a com- bination of stainless steel, new oak and used oak. To achieve greater regional specificity though, Mayorga is moving toward using only Uco Valley fruit. Those vineyards are transitioning to drip irrigation, and he finds their offerings in tune with the new popularity of fresh, nuanced wines. Violets, spice and mineral are at the fore. In contrast, the Nieto Senetiner 2013 Malbec, Luján de Cuyo ($13) shows the primary character of the aged vineyards throughout Luján. Also picked at two different levels of ripeness, the focus is on fruit—tangy black and red berries, red cherry, raisined blueberry—supplemented by spice, toasty wood, mocha and a waft of briny sea air. It sees six months of oak aging and provides excellent value as an accompaniment for grilled meat. The Nieto Senetiner 2011 Terroir Blend Malbec ($30) is a second Luján de Cuyo wine, but uses grapes solely from three high-altitude estate plantings each with a different soil type: ◆ The vineyard at 3,120 feet, Vistalba, is the oldest, with own-rooted vines dating back to 1900. Mayorga tells me its fruit contributes good structure with soft, chewy tannins and black fruit with interesting variations in ripeness. ◆ Above that is the Agrelo Vineyard at 3,450 feet. Planted on cool, clay soil in 1975 and pergola- trained, the fruit profile is red and tannins are firmer. This component provides power. ◆ At 3,780 feet is the pinnacle, called Alto Agrelo. The soil is nothing but stones and the nights are very cold. The resultant wine is violet in color and high in acidity with fresh fruit aromas and linear tannins. All the lots are vinified, and aged separately for a year in 100% new oak. They are united in a blending tank one or two months before bottling. The wine matures an additional year in bottle before release. The result is a dark, full-bodied wine with glass-staining tears. Aromatically pronounced, at this young age it's reflective of the time in barrel: coconut, vanilla, sweet oak, dill and dark spice. The palate is powerful, intense and long with balancing acidity. Initial flavors include coconut, oak, chocolate, vanilla, blackberry jam, dark spice and mocha. With decanting, cherry and assorted berries emerge. For many, this wine will be delicious right now, straight out of the bottle. Those wanting more clarity of high-altitude Malbec character will find it after a few years in the cellar. Santiago Mayorga is gradually adjusting this wine over successive vintages. He's moving toward more freshness and different, less impactful cooperage. "It used to be a lot about oak," he says. "But we are changing and people have changed their palates, too. We like expression of fruit and are more about that style now." Argentina became an international wine powerhouse after its first revolution in quality. With the energy Nieto Senetiner is putting into the second, we may eventually see not just a wider selection of Argentine wine in shops here, but wine lists with multiple, geographically distinct Malbec intended to meet different pairing requirements. Beneath the Syrah canopy in the Vistalba Vineyard. Malbec at the Vistalba Vineyard.

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