2010 Clos de los Siete

(57% malbec, 15% each merlot and cabernet franc, 10% syrah and 3% petit verdot): Saturated ruby. Pungent aromas of cassis, blackberry, licorice and violet pastille. Sweet, pliant and generous, with just enough acidity to give life and shape to the black fruit and bitter chocolate flavors. Finishes long and flavorful, with substantial chewy, ripe tannins and lingering notes of chocolate and minerals. This wine has benefited from the cooler year.

The 2010 Clos de los Siete is a blend of 53% Malbec, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 11% Syrah aged for 12 months in French oak (first, second and third fill.) The nose is packed full of blackberry and mulberry fruit, although it is missing the delineation and lift of other Argentinean reds at the same price point. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins on the entry. It is nicely balanced with good depth and length, underpinned by a solid core of toasty blackberry and raspberry fruit. My main quibble is that it finishes rather clumsily without the focus and clarity that I expected. Still, it has good substance and is packed full of flavor. Drink now-2015. There has been so much written about Clos de los Siete that I thought it was important to let the winemaker himself, Marcelo Pelleriti, who is presently responsible for all Catherine Pere-Verge’s properties, to explains it himself. “Clos de los Siete was founded by Michel Rolland and Jean Michel Arcaute. Since he arrived, Michel was seeking somewhere to express his passion for Malbec, something no larger than 100 hectare – until he found the current place that is not 100 hectares, but 850 hectares! He invited Bordeaux customers and friends with viticultural tradition to join and started the project with six partners in 1998, the first vines planted in 1999. I started working there in 2001. I never thought I would be hired because there were many professionals, but Michel’s idea was to choose people he sensed had a ‘feeling,’ not necessarily experience, but someone that could absorb and learn the concept of terroir, order, passion and a discipline for work. To make wine, technical knowledge is necessary and university helps a lot, but to make great wines you need passion, and that must go hand in hand with knowledge and technology to make wines with personality. Nowadays, I believe that we are one Argentinean team. All winemakers think about making ‘the best wine’ and different styles of it, but we believe our wine can be a kind of ambassador. We are proud to represent Argentinean wines. We winemakers are very close to each other and share ideas. I make my own style of wine, which has evolved from my first wine at Monteviejo and I have found a pathway to fruit, density, texture and balance with mineral structure.” Importer: Dourthe USA, Manhasset, NY; tel. (888) 317- 1727