Critics reviews
Stephen Tanzer - Vinous, March 2016
About this WINE
Bodegas Cuarto Dominio
Bodega Cuarto Dominio is an exciting new addition to our Argentina wine range. It is a joint project between two 4th generation members of renowned wine families, both of whom have been growing vines and making wine in Argentina for over 100 years. Javier Catena, winemaker, is Nicolás Catena’s nephew whilst Andres Blanchard comes from a long line of viticulturalists; his great grandfather from Savoy in France planted the first family vineyard in Maipu, Mendoza’s central valley, in 1911.
The bodega’s house style is one of freshness. They do not look for over-extraction or over-maturation of the grapes and prefer instead to produce concentrated but lifted, vibrant wines. This is due in part to their high altitude location (some vineyards over 900m) in La Consulta in the Uco Valley in Medoza and also to a small parcel of phenomenal old vine Cabernet Franc that goes into the wines. The production is small - only ten barrels a year are produced of the icon wine, the Bodega Cuarto Dominio Malbec. This is a producer to watch.
Catriona Felstead MW, New World Buyer, September 2015
Mendoza
With its western borderline dominated by the Andes and its 146,000 hectares of vineyards representing 70% of the country’s wine production, Mendoza is Argentina’s biggest and most important wine-growing province.
Mendoza’s vineyards are a haven to Old World varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, Bonarda, Sangiovese, Barbera, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. The province’s signature grape is Malbec.
Mendoza still produces large amounts of inexpensive wine for domestic consumption, as well as grape concentrate, but the sub-region of Luján de Cuyo stands out with some lovely velvety Malbecs, while the cool, gravelly Maipú is best for Cabernet Sauvignon.
The most exciting area in Mendoza for fine whites, however, is the Uco Valley, that has the highest vineyards, up to 1,200 metres above sea level. Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Chenin, Pinot Grigio and Torrontés fare particularly well in its cool climate. Its sub-region of Tupungato produces Argentina’s best Chardonnay.
Malbec
Known as Auxerrois in Cahors, Cot in the Loire and Malbeck in Argentina, this grape has undergone a mini renaissance in the last decade, largely fuelled by its success in South America. It used to be a staple component of the Bordeaux Blend, but it never recovered fully from the 1956 frosts and its plantings there have fallen by 75% as growers have replaced it with more fashionable, and crucially, more durable grapes.
It is still grown successfully in South West France where its most famous wine is Cahors. This wine used to be black as coal and tough as leather but improvements in viticultural and vinification techniques have led to riper, softer, more approachable wines that are now amongst the best of the region.
In Argentina it is widely grown and produces deep coloured wines with generous black fruit characteristics, balanced acidity and smooth tannins. It is either bottled on its own or as part of a Bordeaux blend. In Chile it is the 3rd most widely planted grape after Pais and Cabernet Sauvignon and tends to produce firmer, more tannic wines than its Argentinian neighbours. In Chile it is often blended with Merlot and Petit Verdot.
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Description
This is Cuarto Dominio’s top wine, sourced from two particularly well-sited parcels in La Consulta vineyard, which lies at 980 metres’ altitude before a spectacular Andean backdrop. The combination of sun-kissed days and freezing colds nights delivers grapes that are both perfectly ripe and high in acidity. For the lucky drinker, this means bags of flavour, massive yet rounded tannins and, crucially, mouth-watering freshness.
An extraordinarily concentrated and complex wine, this is hard to resist now but with the faculties to improve over the next five or more years. Blackberry, dark chocolate and dried flowers begin a long procession of aromas, which – with time in the glass or decanter – become increasingly savoury in character. Don’t stop swirling until you get smoky bacon! Like many of Mendoza’s best wines, it finishes on a beguiling saline note. Memorable stuff.
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