Ample weight, but not broad; shapely but still polite. A wealth of flavour – dark and red fruit, with a tug of stone and briary sappiness. Discretely opulent but contained and seductively poised. The 2022 vintage produced excellent quality Malbec, showing an intense spectrum of wild, dark fruit flavours, balanced by fresh natural acidity. The grapes were hand-harvested and sorted into a stainless-steel fermenter. Ten percent of the juice was drained from the must, increasing the skin/juice ratio in the tank, and adding palate weight and density in the finished wine. The must was pumped over up to 3 times per day during peak fermentation, with a single rack and a return to break up the cap and promote extraction. After a total of 16 days on skins, the free-run was gravity-drained to tank and barrelled down to 2, 3 and 4 year-old French oak. The barrels were inoculated for malolactic fermentation and kept warm until dry. After 10 months’ maturation in oak, the wine was racked to tank and polish-filtered prior to bottling. A terrific expression of the variety, showing dark fruit intensity, cake spice, charcuterie and hazelnut aromas on the nose. The concentrated palate delivers richness as well as firmness, leading to a lengthy, brooding finish. This is sumptuous with wonderful harmony and complexity. At its best: now to 2036. - Sam Kim, 95 points
