Frost damage marred an otherwise perfect vintage for Argentinian wines, affecting overall volumes by about 10-15%. Otherwise the growing season was superb - long, warm and dry, without heat spikes and with excellent levels of thermal amplitude.
The wines are therefore ripe and elegant, beautifully coloured, well balanced and wonderfully fresh due to the higher levels of natural acidity than normal. All reports suggest 2009 will be on a par or exceed the heights of 2006 – only time will tell.
A New World Grand Cru - Cheval des Andes is a high-end wine project that’s a collaboration between Terrazas de los Andes and Pierre Lurton of Cheval Blanc. The joint venture was proposed by Pierre Lurton in 1999 when he realized the potential for top quality wines that existed in certain sites in Mendoza.
Lurton was eager in connecting again with the grape of Saint Emilion’s past: Malbec. A grape that was decimated by phylloxera in the 1860s from its position as one of the most important varieties in Saint Emilion and Pomerol. It has since been reincarnated at Cheval des Andes in an un grafted form in Argentina, producing some of the world’s best Malbecs in recent years.
Today Pierre Lurton acts as Managing Director of Cheval des Andes alongside Winemaker Nicholas Audebert. Cheval des Andes wines are a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the high elevation, 77 year old "Las Compuertas" vineyards near Mendoza. Some of the Malbec vines are as old as the vineyard itself and ungrafted.
The 2009 is dark, dense and brooding, a gentle coaxing reveals cassis, damson, black pepper and a touch of tobacco leaf. Big bright fruit on the palate is weaved into subtle and velvety tannins. There is an impressive level of detail here, with the oak perfectly integrated to the polished fruit. 59% Malbec, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. This is a fine example of the potential that leading Chateau have seen in Mendoza. A perfect match for carne asada. Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager
Lurton was eager in connecting again with the grape of Saint Emilion’s past: Malbec. A grape that was decimated by phylloxera in the 1860s from its position as one of the most important varieties in Saint Emilion and Pomerol. It has since been reincarnated at Cheval des Andes in an un grafted form in Argentina, producing some of the world’s best Malbecs in recent years.
Today Pierre Lurton acts as Managing Director of Cheval des Andes alongside Winemaker Nicholas Audebert. Cheval des Andes wines are a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the high elevation, 77 year old "Las Compuertas" vineyards near Mendoza. Some of the Malbec vines are as old as the vineyard itself and ungrafted.
The 2009 is dark, dense and brooding, a gentle coaxing reveals cassis, damson, black pepper and a touch of tobacco leaf. Big bright fruit on the palate is weaved into subtle and velvety tannins. There is an impressive level of detail here, with the oak perfectly integrated to the polished fruit. 59% Malbec, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. This is a fine example of the potential that leading Chateau have seen in Mendoza. A perfect match for carne asada.
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager