This weeks entrant into the battle comes to us from one of my favorite bodegas in all of Argentina: Carinae vinedos y bodega in Mendoza. The owners Brigitte and Philippe Subra came from France in 1998 with the hopes of fulfilling their dreams of opening and operating a family vineyard. They hit the jackpot with their timing as the Argentinian wine market was in a period of transition and vineyard land was extremely cheap. How cheap you ask? Well at the time they paid $4,000 per hectare of land in the most promising wine region in all of Argentina. At the same time a piece of land that size in California’s Nappa Valley was going for around $40,000. Needless to say they were able to make their dream become a reality on a budget and since then they have been dedicated to producing limited selection premium wines.
Carinae’s Main vineyards are located in Maipu and are approximately 88 years old. They also own 3 hectares of land in Perdriel, Lujan de Cuyo of 95 year old Malbec vines and 4.5 more hectares in the same area of 85 year old Malbec. In addition to these holdings they have planted a new vineyard of 2 hectares nearby containing Malbec and Syrah. The entire wine process at Carinae is supervised by Michel Rolland, a world renowned Oenologist with hundreds of clients across 13 countries. He visits twice a year to conduct a tasting process and guide blending decisions (The very decisions that lead to the creation of the Carinae Prestige).
Michel Rolland
The name Carinae is Latin for Carina which is considered to be one of the most beautiful constellations in the Southern sky. It can be seen in summer and autumn particularly during the harvesting periods. This constellation is depicted in their label and its beauty is embodied by their fine selection of wines. I’ve loved every single wine of Carinae’s that has ever graced my palate and the Prestige 2008 is no exception. When selecting this wine for the battle, I knew immediately that it was in a category of its own. Apart from being the most expensive bottle in the competition so far it has many other attributes that set it apart from the rest.
The Constellation Carinae Nebula
An assemblage of 70% Malbec, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Syrah, this blend sticks to the basic building blocks of an Argentinian blend. But you don’t get a name like “Prestige” for being basic, and this wine is anything but ordinary. One of the first things that slaps you in the face about this wine is its complexity. It is hands down the most complex wine I have ever had my hands on. There’s a lot that contributes to this. To start, all of the grapes harvested for this wine are plucked at optimal ripeness and then aged for an astounding 18 months in brand new French oak barrels. It is 15.5% alcohol and only 9,680 bottles were produced of the 2008 reserve. The body of this wine is incredibly smokey with strong yet smooth tannins due to the aging process. Whats even more perplexing about this blend is its incredible aroma. It is loaded with sweet depth; caramels, chocolate, coffee, but also savory notes like tobacco, leather and clove. Another thing to consider is that Perdriel has been rated the number one place to grow Malbec in the entire world, thus having that real estate and fine picking only the best of the best grapes to include in this blend can go a long way in breeding such an incredible offspring.
The thing about a wine this complex is that it can be intimidating to a newcomer. This type of wine NEEDS to BREATH. I would recommend decanting this puppy for a bare minimum of a half hour and you can even leave it breathing for days in a refrigerator to let it take in some necessary oxygen. TRUST ME, it will only get better with time! Also, this is a wine made with a very specific pairing in mind: Either red meat, or chocolate. In my opinion those are the only choices for this as anything else will just be overpowered by this wine, confuse your palate, and actually take away form your experience. That being said, when properly decanted and paired, the experience of this wine is absolutely breathtaking. And if you don’t wanna take my word for it, then at least listen to Robert Parker who gave this 91 points (An insane feat to accomplish in the wine world).
Brigitte and Philippe Subra
Now for the hard part, actually figuring out where this fits into the ranks. To be honest, the Prestige is such a complex and mature wine that it is in an entirely different category from the rest. I’ve been focusing a lot on pairability and drinkability, and if I were only considering those factors then this wine would drop down the list. But the simple fact is that this Prestigious (Sorry I couldn’t help myself) of a wine deserves nothing short of first on the list. I will not however discredit the amazing feat that the Caluna accomplished with both its complexity and pairability, thus for the time being were going to have a first place tie. (Cue the boos for my lack of decision making!)
Current Rankings:
1.) A draw between Caluna Blend 2009 & Carinae Prestige 2008
2.) 2012 El Porvenir de Cafayate Amauta Corte IV “Innovacion”
3.) 2010 Las Perdices Don Juan Reserva
4.) 2009 Mairena Blend Reserva
As always, pleasant drinking and Viva La Blend!
Buenos Aires Wine Tour 