Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/735312
80 / the tasting panel / october 2016 91 La Playa 2012 Axel Primero, Colchagua Valley, Chile ($30) Axel is La Playa's premium line. Generous, rich and complex with lively structure and notes of bright plum and spice. 27% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Carmenère, 18% Petit Verdot, 13% Syrah. CABERNET CORPORATION 92 Peregrine Wines 2013 Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand ($34) This top Kiwi producer checks in with another complex Pinot with ripe cherry and tangy acidity; fresh, elegant and generous. VINEYARD BRANDS 93 Rocca Sveva 2011 Amarone della Valipolicella Riserva DOC, Italy ($55) Intense and concentrated with sweet blackberry and spice; jammy and dense with ripe flavors and smooth texture. 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara. MW IMPORTS 92 Tommasi 2011 Casisano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy ($60) Podere Casisano is the Tuscan estate of the Veneto- based Tommasi family. This Brunello shows elegant flavors and bright acidity; toasty, lush and complex. VINTUS LLC VALUE AND BY-THE-GLASS RECOMMENDATIONS 91 Rustot Vino Spumante Rosé Brut, Treviso, Italy ($14) A wonderful by-the- glass aperitif from Prosecco area growers Vittorio and Luca Follador. Pale salmon color ; fresh and dry with raspberry and juicy style. WADE & CLARK WINE IMPORTS, LLC The View from Vistalba BODEGA VISTALBA WAS FOUNDED BY CARLOS PULENTA, son of a well-known Argentine wine family. The estate is based on a Bordeaux château model, with grapes sourced from family-owned vineyards in the Luján de Cuyo sub-appellation of Vistalba. Bodega Vistalba is the only producer allowed to use the appellation Vistalba in its name. The winery, inspired by Argentina's criollo (native) culture, is gravity-fed and geared toward traditional winemaking techniques. In 2009, industrialist Alejandro Bulgheroni—who also owns Bodegas Garzón in Uruguay, Dievole in Chianti Classico and an eponymous winery in Napa Valley, among several many others—par tnered with Pulenta to continue the pursuit of world-class wines. Vistalba's Cor te A, B and C blends are the result of the best grapes of each harvest and differ from vintage to vintage. These wines share similar terroir— loamy soil with medium to low fer tility, as well as cold winters and warm summers with high daytime and cool nighttime temperatures—and are vinified using natural yeasts in concrete vats. Cor te A is primarily Malbec with small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Bonarda, 100 percent aged in French oak for 18 months and 12 months in bottle. Cor te B is styled to be lush and rounded, with velvety tannins; it is 100% aged in French oak for 12 months and in bottle for ten months. Cor te C is designed for more immediate consumption, 20 percent aged in French oak for 12 months and six months in bottle before release. The varietal Tomero line comes from the Valle de Uco in Mendoza. I recently tasted through some recent releases with winemaker Alejandro Cánovas, who has been with Vistalba since the outset. 88 Vistalba 2014 Tomero Cabernet Sauvignon, Uco Valley, Argentina ($15) Crisp and lively with fresh plum fruit and racy acidity; tangy and balanced. 89 Vistalba 2014 Tomero Malbec, Uco Valley, Argentina ($15) Dark and smooth with ripe berry fruit and lovely texture. 92 Vistalba 2013 Tomera Malbec Reserva, Uco Valley, Argentina ($25) Dense on the palate with velvety texture and rich flavors of deep plum and elegant spice; ripe and finely structured. 91 Vistalba 2014 Corte C Malbec–Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza, Argentina ($17) Juicy and tangy with bright blackberry fruit and notes of earth and spice; deep and lush. 61% Malbec, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon. 92 Vistalba 2014 Corte B, Mendoza, Argentina ($25) Loads of ripe blackberry and notes of earth and spice; complex, dense and balanced, long and lovely. 80% Malbec, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Bonarda. 93 Vistalba 2013 Corte A, Mendoza, Argentina ($65) Rich and dense with ripe black raspberry fruit and notes of oak, spice and earth; smooth texture and lovely depth, long and balanced. 66% Malbec, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Bonarda. BLENDS