2016 Cheval Des Andes, Mendoza
A$215.07
Availability:
In stock
SKU
CHEVMAL16
The new vintage to be released in September 2019 is the 2016 Cheval des Andes, which was cropped from a completely unusual year—cooler than the average and with an exceptional amount of rain (around 600 liters), yet the wine has achieved exceptional freshness. It's 13.9% alcohol, and there's more red fruit on the nose, which is subtle and elegant, a little closed at first, shy and subtle. They have done great adjustments in the élevage, with the wine matured in 30% to 40% 400-liter barrels and only 40% new wood. It's 58% Malbec (approximately 50/50 from Luján and Valle de Uco, where they have 15 hectares in Altamira), 37% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. This has less structure than the 2015, but there's more tension; this is a wine that should develop beautifully in bottle. This is a vintage of precision and with great aging potential. I think this wine is the most elegant produced so far. Bravo! 64,000 bottles produced.
97 points Luis Gutiérrez robertparker.com Nov 2019 Drink 2019-2036
Super refined and beautiful with flowers, spices, dried fruit and hints of stones. Medium to full body with very fine tannins and a gorgeous finish. Shows great finesse and depth. Savory character, as always, but in check. Drink in 2022.
99 points jamessuckling.com March 2020
The Cheval des Andes collaboration came to be as the result of one French winemaker’s voyage to the other side of the world and a glass of impressive Argentinean wine.
Visiting Argentina in the 90s, Pierre Lurton, President of Château Cheval Blanc, legendary Premier Grand Cru Classé A of Saint-Emilion, found himself in the sloping plains of the majestic Andes mountains at the Terrazas de los Andes vineyards. Cheval Blanc’s reconnection with its past was consummated in 1999 during this visit through the select parcel of the most treasured high elevation terroir in Argentina: Terrazas de los Andes’ 80 year-old Las Compuertas vineyard, found in Vistalba, Mendoza. Upon tasting their Malbec, he was captivated by the quality of the wine being produced in this breathtaking yet seemingly inhospitable location and was intrigued by the notion of unearthing a connection with the Saint-Emilion past. Decimated by phylloxera in the 1860s from its position as the one of the most important varieties in Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, the Malbec had since been reincarnated in ungrafted form in Argentina, producing some of the world’s best Malbec in recent years. Along with this renaissance in Argentina emerged an ambitious vision to forge a new path in international winemaking.
His vision paved the way for the birth of Cheval des Andes, the first and only alliance the prestigious Château Cheval Blanc vignoble has seen fit to launch. The noble fusion of a Premier Grand Cru of Saint-Emilion with the best Argentine terroir innovative high-altitude expertise; the extraordinary experience of the old world and the creativity and inventiveness of the new, together as they should be in one glorious wine.
| Product/Service Sold Out | No |
|---|---|
| En Primeur | No |
| New Arrivals | No |
| Wine Type | Red Wine |
| Wine Style | Traditional |
| Country | Argentina |
| Region | Mendoza |
| Varietals | Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Wine Points | 99 |
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