Argentine Inspiration and Beaujolais Beauties: Weekly Tasting Report (Feb 22-28)

It has been a week of malbecs and barbecues in Argentina’s Mendoza wine region for JamesSuckling.com. Senior Editor Zekun Shuai just finished a two-week trip to Argentina to visit producers and taste the new vintages, mostly 2020s and 2021s. There are a few other top-scoring wines included in this week’s report, such as a fantastic Napa chardonnay from Pahlmeyer, but it is Mendoza that is clearly shining.

For Argentina’s Mendoza, the 2020 vintage was a challenging year. The summer was warm and was followed by the outbreak of COVID in early March, which complicated the harvest. Human resources could have been an issue for those who hand-pick their crop, because of the compulsory lockdown that started around March 20. But just like its neighbor Chile, most producers we talked to in Mendoza reported that it was an early vintage. Many started picking the reds in the first week of March, and the pandemic also accelerated the harvest. Rich malbecs with excellent density are not rare, but more importantly, it is freshness that top producers sought, by choosing the right time to pick within a concise harvesting window.

“2020 was a warm vintage. In Mendoza and San Juan, for example, the growing season temperature was about 20 percent higher than the average, and it was a year with low production. The ripening process was faster, so the precise timing of picking was the key,” said Marcelo Belmonte, viticulture and winemaking director of Argentina’s leading and biggest wine group, Grupo Peñaflor.

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Among the wines from Peñaflor, Trapiche Malbec Cabernet Franc Mendoza Iscay 2020 and Trapiche Syrah Viognier Mendoza Iscay 2020 are some of the best from this vintage, capturing the right balance between ripeness and freshness. But the most exciting wine from Peñaflor this year is their Bemberg Estate Wines Gualtallary Valle de Uco Pionero 2019, a 99-point blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon, and cabernet franc, which comes from a fantastic, almost perfect vintage, according to chief winemaker Daniel Pi.

The wine is a fine powerhouse with great depth. The tannins are tight but remarkably cohesive and chalky, reflecting the power and the fine mineral austerity from Gualtallary, but also showing outstanding balance, which will allow it to age beautifully. Zekun describes it as Argentina’s answer to Latour and one of the best from this ideally dry, cooler-than-average vintage. Sebastian Zuccardi of Familia Zuccardi winery also reiterated that they still believe 2019 is the best vintage they had over the last ten-plus years.

The quality of Zuccardi’s 2020s is very consistent, and some are on a par with 2019. Zuccardi Malbec Valle de Uco Paraje Altamira Finca Canal Uco 2020 was one of the top malbecs of the vintage. It’s deep, pristine and fresh with ultra-fine, immaculate tannins – a super-concentrated, polished but intellectual malbec that has enough confidence to highlight the innate complexity of the fruit without reference to the oak barrels in which the wine matured.

“2020 and 2021 are marvelous vintages, but in very different climatic conditions. 2020 was a little warmer than 2021, so the harvest was early and the picking window was very short. Lots of grapes and parcels ripened at the same time. 2021 was much cooler and this provided us with an easier harvest. We managed to harvest at our own pace,” said Laura Principiano, chief winemaker of Zuccardi.

One of the best and top-value wines this week comes from the cooler 2021 – a cabernet franc from Gualtallary. Matias Riccitelli Cabernet Franc Gualtallary 2021 is all about tension and precision, showing the transparency of varietal typicity and freshness. The prodigious amount of red and blue fruit characters from this vintage in Mendoza is also found in many cabernets and malbecs. While almost everything from Riccitelli delivers unconventional drinkability, the winemaker himself believes his wines aren’t conventional, but they are not too crazy, either.

The top-scoring wines from Riccitelli are the Matias Riccitelli Malbec Cabernet Franc Mendoza Riccitelli & Father 2020 and Matias Riccitelli Rio Negro Flor NV, the latter of which is indeed a crazy blend of semillon and pedro gimenez (criolla blanca) aged in a smaller solera under flor for 5-7 years. It is intense, fresh and idiosyncratic, with chiseled briny salinity and a refined, yeasty note. Sadly, only around 1,000 bottles were made. Grab the chance if you encounter one.

BEAUJOLAIS DISCOVERIES 

Meanwhile, Senior Editor Stuart Pigott arrived in Beaujolais to complete his research for our forthcoming Beaujolais Report, including wines from the mixed-quality vintage of 2021. “Some of the most exciting Beaujolais I tasted before leaving for the region were not from the nine Crus that are the source of most of the region’s high-end reds, but were Beaujolais-Lantignié wines from a producer who is new to me, called Frédéric Berne,” Stuart said.

Immediately after his arrival in the region, Stuart asked local winemakers why Lantignié is not a Beaujolais Cru (de-facto village appellations). The answer is that Lantignié has already applied for Beaujolais Cru status, but the wheels of bureaucracy in France turn slowly, so the producers are still waiting.

“Frédéric Berne’s trio of excellent 2021s from Lantignié were as good as his 2021s from the Beaujolais Crus of Chiroubles and Régnié,” Stuart commented, “and on the basis of these and other wines I tasted recently, I think Lantignié certainly deserves to gain Cru status.”

READ MORE TOP 100 WINES OF FRANCE 2022

Although many of the wines from the basic regional appellation Beaujolais that Stuart tasted rated under-90, that doesn’t mean they are poor. They are just light and fruity and refreshing in a simple and uncomplicated way.

“There were some very positive exceptions to that rule from the Chermette family, most notably the impressively structured Pierre-Marie Chermette Beaujolais Coeur de Vendanges Vignes Centenaries 2021. Here the hundred-year-old vines are responsible for the extra depth and concentration.”

The other wines that stood out just before Stuart’s departure were from the Mosel. “It sounds crazy, but the Mosel and Beaujolais regions have something in common. Both are underdogs that are painstakingly rebuilding their reputations after going through crises.”

Of course, the Mosel focuses on white wines and Beaujolais on reds, but in both regions the cause of the crisis was the same: over-commercialization created a downward price and quality spiral that eroded the image.

“The little wine town of Leiwen was one of the centers of that process in the Mosel Valley, but it has changed dramatically for the better and now it's home to several excellent producers, including Nikolaus Köwerich,” Stuart explained.

All the Nikolaus Köwerich wines that Stuart tasted rated very well for their categories, the dry Nikolaus Köwerich Riesling Mosel Leiwener Laurentiuslay Grosse Lage 2020 being the standout. “I love this sophisticated and elegant dry riesling from a very steep and dramatic site. It's still really youthful too, and should age gracefully.”

For next week’s report, Stuart promises us a slew of impressive wines from the top producers of Beaujolais. “I can’t wait to get to my first appointment today, because this region is really on a roll!” he said.

– Stuart Pigott, Senior Editor; Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.