Argentina

Cabernet Sauvignon

Petit Verdot

Malbec

Cheval Blanc & Terrazas de Los Andes

Cheval Blanc & Terrazas de Los Andes Cheval des Andes Mendoza

Mendoza

This is a collaborative project between Cheval Blanc in Bordeaux and Terrazas de los Andes. They used 45% new oak, and the blend is 71% Malbec, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot.

 The nose is fruity with dark berries such as cherries, blackberries and blackcurrants. There is also dark chocolate with peppermint, and a slightly moist forest floor. It is complex and appealing. 

The palate is medium-bodied, fruity and medium-acidic. There is also some liquorice. The tannins are ripe and well integrated. The finish is long and quite complex.

It is a lovely wine and among the best I have tasted from Argentina. It is fine to drink now, but can be aged further without necessarily getting much better.

Expert

Coming from a cooler, wetter vintage, the 2021 Cheval des Andes is a blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 48% Malbec, and 3% Petit Verdot. The nose is incredibly closed and slightly reduced to begin. After giving it considerable time and air, floral notes of violets and iris bulb begin to emerge, leading to a core of ripe, juicy blueberries, warm cassis, and red currant preserves, plus suggestions of tar and anise. The medium to full-bodied palate is very bright and pure, delivering vibrant blue and black fruit layers with floral nuances and a velvety texture, finishing with great freshness and on a lingering aniseed note. I love how this wine embraces the cooler vintage rather than fighting it, delivering a very elegant, fragrant style. This graceful beauty will need a good 3-5 years in bottle, then drink it over the next 20 years+.

by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

The 2020 Cheval des Andes is made from 49% Malbec, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2% Petit Verdot. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it starts off a little broody with tar and black olives notes giving way to a core of plum preserves, stewed black cherries, and mulberries, with wafts of garrigue and iron ore. The full-bodied palate is laden with black fruit preserves with a solid frame of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long with a spicy lift. This estate is a joint venture between Chateau Cheval Blanc and Terrazas de Los Andes.

Lovely depth to the fruit, clear chocolate, liquorice, rosemary and black pepper spice, along with blueberry, black cherry, nuances of orange rind. A relatively low level of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend compared to some years, but it still pulls its weight in terms of the aromatics profile. Gérald Gabillet director and winemaker (previously at Château Angélus in St Emilion).

Inside Bordeaux

Savoury black fruits with scorched earth smoke, eucalyptus and cocoa bean, given focus and a sense of momentum by fresh acidities and a juicy finish. Malbec has the ability as does Pinot Noir to either drink early or to age for years, and you feel the elasticity and promise of the tannins in this wine. Blend at the end of ageing. Aged in 2500-litre oak casks, 70% new oak.

Immediately seductive floral and smoke notes. The complexity in the construction of the wine is clear - precise cassis and blueberry along with slate, scorched earth and the seductive, succulent and powerful spice of Malbec. Excellent quality, with liqourice root and violet curling out of the glass. First year with 100% of grapes from their own plots, entirely given over to Cheval des Andes, without any from Terrazas de los Andes. Lorenzo Pasquini winemaker. 70% new oak.

Love the smoky edge to this wine with its clear graphite, liquorice and spice notes, and its fragrant violet aromatics. There is a feeling of density to the entire thing, with the tannins doing their job of cradling and guiding the blueberry and raspberry fruit. An excellent, sure-footed wine, with no Petit Verdot for the first time and yet still delivering plenty of pep, and overall the balance is striking. 500l oak casks for ageing for the first time, with the percentage of new oak brought down to 50%. 90% of their own plots were by this point going into the wine, with just 10% from Terrazas de los Andes.

This combines light and shade, with beautiful fragrance and a complex feel to the fruit. A punch of spice on the finish but with juicy blueberry and blackberry fruit to balance things out, showing the fresher side of Malbec from a season that saw the coolest harvest since 2001, with periods of rain. This late season rain meant the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon was low, and it is the violet, rosebud and dark spice are the dominant flavours. Tasting absolutely ready to drink right now. 30% of grapes coming from Terrazas de los Andes at this point.

Highlighting the sweet side of Malbec, majoring on chocolate shavings, smoked earth, raspberry, sour cherry, black pepper, waves of autumnal fruits that fade into tobacco, fig and prune. There is a joy here, but also touches of heat, from a season that was hot and dry.

A full burst of Malbec that is gourmet and easy to enjoy. Violet and raspberry leaf notes, generous power and spice (helped by old vines that date back to 1929). There is plenty of tannic structure here, giving punch and impact - both frost and hot winds caused low yields in 2012, and you still feel the concentration at nine years old. Nicolas Audebert (now back in Bordeaux) was heading up the estate at the time, and at this point they were using grapes from both Terrazas de los Andes and their own specific vineyards. 100% new oak.

The nose is fruity with quite ripe fruit with red plums, cherries and blackcurrants. There is also chocolate and a slightly moist forest floor. It is quite complex and appealing. 

The palate is medium-bodied, intensely fruity and medium-acidic. The finish is long and medium acidic. It is fine to drink now, but can be aged for another 10 years. 

There are fantastic producers behind this and it shows. It is even more precise than the 2011 that I had recently.

2021	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2020	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2018	No priceNot available	Outstanding
2017	No priceNot available	Extraordinary
2016	No priceNot available	Extraordinary

Category	Red wine
Vinmonopolet no.
Producer	Cheval Blanc & Terrazas de Los Andes
Vintages	2011
Country	Argentina, Mendoza
Bottle	75 cl

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Sugar	g/l

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