February 20, 2019 - My two prior reviews (Sept '15 and '17) are spot on. I would only add that this wine is at its zenith (peak) right now and I don't see it getting better.
Drink now and enjoy. A really great Malbec,.
March 10, 2018 - Full body, long finish. Excellent Malbec
September 24, 2017 - One of the best Malbecs we have had, great QPR. Strong tannins-still- and dark fruit, lots of fruit, with touches of wood. Needs some breathing and we did decant for an hour and with that, it is in drink now status.
May be even better in 2018, but approaching prime.
Good acidity for food pairing. The 15% Petit Verdot really makes this wine sing.
February 28, 2017 - Great nose. Best Malbec I've had in years. Complex, almost slight mint on the finish. Dark fruit, medium body, mid-high viscosity. Long 25 second plus finish
August 22, 2016 - Rich dark stone fruit with a bit of spice. Flaverful but did not overpower our beef short ribs. Outstanding!!!!
May 29, 2016 - Decanted 1 hour. 85% Malbec, 15% Petit Verdot. "We call this wine Amorio, or 'Love Affair' to convey the deep and enduring feelings the Argentine people have toward the Malbec grape," winemaker Ernesto Catena writes on the back label. But 15% is a lot of Petit Verdot, and it is unquestionably the dominant flavor profile here. Tons of that Petit Verdot ink, purple saltwater taffy, licorice, and sweet floral perfume. The Malbec contributes weight and underlying gritty loam, all wrapped in a polished shell of charred cedar and milk chocolate. Mouthfeel is very clean and feels heavily filtered (there was no sediment in the bottle), which makes me think "science experiment." I like this wine, but I'd love it if I could dial down the Petit Verdot to 5% or 10% and add back some unfiltered, authentic character. It's interesting to note vintages 2001-2010 are 100% Malbec and 2012-2013 are 60% Malbec/40% Cab Franc, so I suppose it was an experiment after all. Drink now-2021
September 14, 2015 - One of the best Malbecs we have ever had and one of the best wines we have had this year. It took a lot of breathing and decanting to get this to open up, but it had in your face tannins and dark fruit, lots of fruit, with touches of wood. As it stands now, this is a very strong wine and needs lots of air. I assess it as being rather young. You can drink now if you want to put the time in to get it lots of air. We have two bottles left and I'm thinking we leave them for at least 2017, if not 2018.
Very impressive wine, but very young. If you aren't giving it lots of air, you won't get out of it what we did...my first tastes prior to breathing and decanting were disappointing.
April 20, 2015 - Retailer tasting (Vianen): This is an 85% Malbec and 15 % Petit Verdot blend. The wine gets 70% of French oak and 30% of American oak. And to make it more complicated 60% of the oak is new and 30% is 2nd year oak. Not sure about the last 10%. The result is a wine with ripe dark forest fruits in the bouquet. On the palate the same fruits, toasted oak, some sweetness, firm acidity and tannin with a pleasant bite. Well made wine, ready now and at least until 2018. 89 - 90
December 3, 2014 - Powerful and concentrated but a bit out of sorts at the moment as the fruit, wood and alc all compete for dominance.
October 28, 2014 - Pretty good Malbec. I don't particularly like Malbec's as my opening bottle. $23.11.