60 Second Wine Review — Achaval Ferrer Finca Bella Vista

Amber LeBeau — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 18:19:02 +0000

A few quick thoughts on the 2013 Achaval Ferrer Finca Bella Vista Malbec from Mendoza.

The Geekery

Achaval Ferrer was founded in 1998 when friends Santiago Achával and Manuel Ferrer joined Italian winemaker Roberto Cipresso and Tiziano Siviero in a new venture to focus on single vineyard Malbecs.

In 2011, Cipresso and Siviero sold their shares and a majority stake of the winery to the spirits firm SPI Group which owns the vodka brand Stolichnaya as well as the Italian wineries Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi (with Michael Mondavi), Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, Castelgiocondo and Luce della Vite.

Located in the Perdriel region of Luján de Cuyo outside of Mendoza, the Bella Vista vineyard was first planted in 1910 on its own rootstock. Sitting at an elevation of over 3200 feet, many of the century-plus vines are still in use producing a tiny yield of around 1 ton per acre. At this low yield, it takes the crop of 3 vines to produce enough grapes for 1 bottle of wine.

The wine is aged for 15 months in 100% new French oak barrels with around 1500 cases produced.

The Wine

Despite all the rich jammy fruit, there is an odd herbal tomato leaf character that gets more stemmy on the palate.

Medium intensity nose. Very jammy dark fruit–black cherry and black plum. Moderate oak spice with clove. More surprising is the distinctive tomato-leaf herbalness accompanying the dark fruit.

On the palate, the rich dark fruit carry through–as does the herbalness which morphs into more stemmy-ness. High tannins have a firm edge and chalky texture but aren’t biting. Medium acidity and probably a high pH adds some softness to the rich fruit. The finish is fruit forward but dies pretty quickly.

The Verdict

This wine has an odd combination of very ripe and very under-ripe flavors that certainly has me a bit baffled at what happened in the vineyard and winery this year.

At $90-110, it’s hard to say that this wine is worth the premium above the winery’s basic Malbec ($30) or Quimera blend ($40).

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60 Second Wine Review — Brilliant Mistake Cabernet Sauvignon

Amber LeBeau — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 00:21:39 +0000

A few quick thoughts on the 2014 Brilliant Mistake Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.

The Geekery

Brilliant Mistake was founded in 2013 by John and Stacy Reinert with Rebekah Wineburg making the inaugural vintage, sourcing Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyards in Rutherford and the Stags Leap District.

With a background that included stints at Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, Staglin, Rudd and Buccella, Wineburg finished the 2013 vintage before returning to Buccella and later moving on to Quintessa. She was succeeded at Brilliant Mistake by Maayan Koschitzky, a protege of Philippe Melka.

An Israeli native, Koschitzky started in the wine industry with Margalit Winery in Galilee before moving to Napa Valley in 2011 to work at Screaming Eagle and then Dalle Valle.

At this year’s Premiere Napa Valley, Brilliant Mistake was one of the top selling lots at the auction joining the likes of Chappellet, Shafer Vineyards and Ovid to help raise more than $4.1 million for charity.

The Wine

Rich dark fruit like plums characterize this Napa Cab.

Medium-plus intensity nose. Very rich dark fruit–black plums, blackberry and noticeable oak spice.

On the palate, those rich dark fruits carry through. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how well balanced the richness was with the medium-plus acidity. The noticeable oak spices of clove, cinnamon and allspice are also present. But the oak is well-balanced with the sweet vanilla playing a supporting role in rounding out the high tannins. Very full bodied and seductive mouthfeel with a long, minute-plus finish that lingers on the juicy black fruits.

The Verdict

This is your classic, hedonistic Napa Cabernet Sauvignon but an exceptionally well made one. It seduces you with the bold, rich dark fruits. But it certainly toes the line with enough acidity and structure to keep it from being sweet and one dimensional.

While it’s drinking absolutely scrumptious now, I’m skeptical at how much better it will get with bottle age over the next 5-10 years. Compared to its Napa peers, the wine is well priced at $150-175 a bottle. However, I can see this wine eclipsing the $200 mark soon enough.

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Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Archives - SpitBucket

60 Second Wine Review — Achaval Ferrer Finca Bella Vista

The Geekery

The Wine

The Verdict

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60 Second Wine Review — Brilliant Mistake Cabernet Sauvignon

The Geekery

The Wine

The Verdict

Subscribe to Spitbucket