I’m back! Been staying busy – too busy to post on Reddit every time I drink a bottle of wine. Hope y’all are well. A fun little drink from a good producer tonight!
Cuvelier Los Andes is an Argentine sister project of the Cuvelier family, who owns Chateau Leoville-Poyferre (hence the label) and Chateau Le Crock. Michel Rolland, who helps run both of those productions as well as Clos de Los Siete, is a founder of this project as well.
The nose of this wine is immensely savory up-front. There’s a smoky, meaty, leathery character that sort of dominates the ripe, dark fruits one expects from Malbec. We’re not in the Brett Zone, but I am reminded of old-school Bordeaux and the gamey Syrah wines of the Northern Rhone.
The palate is more fruit-forward, but not overly-full. There’s freshness to make the wine feel lean and focused, but still a green, herbal undertone to keep things interesting. The tannins are fairly sticky and prickly at this stage – it is young.
This is a nice wine. I make it a point to revisit Argentine Malbec sometimes. It is a great region for value, but I encounter overly fruity, commercially-styled Malbec so often that it dissuades me from being interested in a lot of the accessibly-priced juice. This one is quite delicious and has character, though, and is a nice reminder that Malbec can be interesting in the right hands.
That said, it is a project of a Bordeaux wine family. I find a lot of Old World (particularly French) producers dip their fingers into South American winemaking, and I can’t help but feel that this is exploitative (perhaps a harsh word) of a market that is “vulnerable” by virtue of being less-established and thus more affordable in the global market. I’d love some recommendations of high-quality, interesting wines made in South America by South American producers.
Cheers!
by christisanders1