The Best of Argentine Malbecs, Plus Israel’s Mediterranean Shift: Weekly Tasting Report (March 8-14)

Senior Editor Zekun Shuai has finally returned to our Hong Kong tasting office after his South American adventure, but his quest to find the best bottles from Argentina continues. The highlights of this week’s report include some unique offerings from Terrazas de los Andes, which produced some of the most exciting wines from the challenging 2020 vintage – an early harvest year with lower yields due to frost and a lack of winter rain, not to mention the onset of the pandemic. Most Argentine winemakers Zekun talked to reported condensed and smaller crops, harvested two to four weeks earlier than usual.

The cooler, extremely high-altitude areas in Mendoza’s Uco Valley really shined in this vintage, producing some exciting reds. Terrazas de los Andes made two stellar, single-parcel malbecs from Gualtallary and Los Chacayes. The Terrazas de los Andes Malbec Gualtallary Valle de Uco El Espinillo Parcel N 1E 2020 is one of this vintage’s freshest offerings, taking you straight to the vineyard with its exotic aromas of wild herbs, grilled tarragon and depth of fruit. It’s a sensational red coming from a staggering 1,630 meters elevation, and is heavy on the “wow” factor, according to Zekun’s tasting note. At that altitude, the harvest was relatively late in this early vintage because of the extremely cool climate.

“We are at a high altitude, and we are taking all the risks to deliver freshness,” Herve Birnie-Scott, Terrazas de los Andes’ estate director and head winemaker, told Zekun. He called the wine a “malbec harvested from the moon,” adding that Argentina “is going to deliver much more than just generic, big and sweet malbecs.”

READ MORE TOP 100 WINES OF ARGENTINA 2022

The Terrazas de los Andes Malbec Los Chacayes Valle de Uco Lican Parcel N 12S 2020, meawhile, is a great wine in every qualitative aspect. Harmony is found within its remarkable depth of complexity with plenty of melted, powdery tannins and an incredibly persistent finish. The difference here is the terroir: the Lican Parcel is situated at 1,200 meters on a steep slope comprised of sandy, loamy soils with calcareous coatings. The wine smells and tastes floral, spicy and almost a bit plush – probably a little neater than El Espinillo with a more eclectic side, but a safer bet because it’s a little less wild.

There are some equally fresh, fruit-driven wines from Terrazas de los Andes that deliver great value. The Terrazas de los Andes Pinot Noir Gualtallary Origen 2021 and Terrazas de los Andes Malbec Mendoza High Altitude Vineyards Reserva 2021 are two great buys, showing much freshness, purity and delineated precision, all for about $25. Real deals from Mendoza!

Zekun also visited Bodega Chacra in the Rio Negro region of Patagonia, where he was greeted with some great pinot noirs and chardonnays from 2021 and 2022. Chacra’s 2022 reds are made via tea-infusion, with minimal extraction. Fermentation happens in very shallow and round tanks with indigenous yeast and plenty of whole bunches. Of course, you’d expect something natural, nervy and ethereal in the pinots, but not quite in a Burgundian way. Zekun believes they are rather neo-classical, with extreme freshness and digestible berry fruit that stands at the crossroads of Burgundy and Beaujolais: a combination of grace, vivacity and drinkability. The Chacra Pinot Noir Patagonia Treinta y Dos 2022 is the best example of how 2022 will become a memorable vintage for the top pinots of the estate.

“I like 2022, and I think it is one of the best vintages, if not the best, across the line,” said Piero Incisa della Rocchetta, Chacra’s founder and owner. “It was a very well-balanced vintage. We had a good winter, not super cold but cold at the right moments with some frosts. It was not a hot vintage, so we are talking about 12.5 percent alcohol for the reds and 13 percent for the whites.”

He also stressed the importance of picking early to keep the wine as natural as possible with low alcohol. “We are not acidifying the wines, so the idea is to pick early. Compared with 2004, which was our first vintage, we are picking almost a month earlier.”

The two chardonnays from 2022 that Rocchetta makes with Jean-Marc Roulot are equally exciting. The mineral, flinty Chacra Chardonnay Patagonia Mainqué 2022 is a dead ringer for a grand cru Chablis but only costs a fraction of the price, and Zekun believes it is one of the best ever since the debut vintage of 2017. The Chacra Chardonnay Patagonia 2022 is of a more Puligny or Meursault style – a little creamier and rounder, but also arguably very Roulot, showing composed freshness, texture and purity.

READ MORE TOP 100 VALUE WINES OF 2022

A MEDITERRANEAN SHIFT IN ISRAEL

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott spent the whole of last week in Israel, his first visit in almost four years, but there was a twist. “The last time I tasted Israeli wines intensively, the most exciting reds were Bordeaux blends, but this time it was reds from Mediterranean varieties that took the spotlight," he said.

Stuart found several stars in the range at Ze’ev Dunie’s Seahorse Winery in the Judean Hills, most notably the Chateauneuf-du-Pape inspired red Seahorse Winery Antoine Tête de Cuvée 2020. “Tasting this was like gazing into a deep chasm, thanks to the seemingly endless black fruit and spicy nuances,” Stuart said.

“Another amazing Mediterranean red blend is the Razi’el Haute Judée 2020. It tastes as graceful as it is concentrated, with great spicy and balsamic complexity.“ The winemaker behind it, Eli-Gilbert Ben-Zaken, is also responsible for the magnificent Domaine du Castel Haute Judée Grand Vin 2019, a Bordeaux blend that Stuart said “has a wonderful vitality and precision, the very fine tannins building to an imposing climax.”

There are also some stunning dry whites from the 2022 vintage that raise the bar for this category in Israel to a new high.

"I regard Doron Rav Hon as the leading maker of white wines in Israel, and his Sphera Judean Hills White Signature 2022 has great flint and grapefruit aromas plus wonderful textural complexity," Stuart said. "He also made the best-ever Israeli dry riesling!"

The Tzora Vineyards Judean Hills Shoresh White 2022 is another dry white game-changer. "It is intensely smoky and flinty with crystalline purity and a great future ahead of it," Stuart said. "This cuvee of sauvignon blanc and chardonnay is a great achievement for winemaker Eran Pick MW."

READ MORE TOP 100 WORLD WINES 2022

Back home in Germany, Stuart took his first dip into the wines of the Rhone, a region we will visit next month.

“I was a bit surprised to find some very impressive 2021 reds, because this was a really changing vintage in the Rhone. The most remarkable of these was the Domaine La Florane Côtes-du-Rhône St.-Maurice Guillaume de Rouville 2021, which has stunning perfume, is super-concentrated and super-elegant.“

André Brunet is a well-established producer in the south of the region and his wines all impressed.

“I love the André Brunet Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Cailloux Cuvée Centenaries 2019, an incredible dense yet impeccably balanced wine with a lingering finish. It’s a classic example of the appellation!“

Watch this space for more news from the Rhone in April…

– Zekun Shuai and Stuart Pigott, Senior Editors

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.