WTN: Trapiche Pedro Gonzalez Single Vineyard Mendoza Malbec Argentina 2004

I just got back from the annual Argentinian Parillada at Cafe Ysabel. Regular wines served were the Trapiche Fond de Cave Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 (called Broquel in other markets) and Kaiken Ultra Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Being friends of the wine sponsors, our table was lucky enough to get to try a sample bottle of this Trapiche Single Vineyard Malbec.

Very deep, inky purple. Sweet roast coffee on the nose. Full, peppery, grilled meat, leather, smoke and a bit of licorice on the palate. Dry. Well balanced. This has a tannic and somewhat acidic finish that made me think of Cabernet. A touch of oakiness is also present in the finish.

This needs more bottle age. The Kaikens and lower-end Trapiche bottlings were much more enjoyable to drink. I would suggest a revisit in 3 years.

Jay.... excellent description of this wine, thanks for sharing your notes. I also had a chance to sample this last time I was in Mendoza... we tasted 8 Single Vineyards in all, from the 2002, 2003 and 2004 vintages. I agree the newer stuff 2004 and most 2003s still need time in the cellar... the 2002 were showing much better. These are indeed special wines.

Do you have price points for your domestic market?

Cheers,
Alex

Alex,

Sorry, no price indication yet for the single vineyard wines but they should be commercially available here before the year is out. I would be interested to know what it costs there.

We were able to try 3 other wines in the series last year but don't remember their names. I do remember the Pedro Gonzalez seemed to be the best.

Jay

Domestic release in 3 weeks, will report back once pricing is available.

The Kaiken I have tasted is top notch. See my TN!! Open Mike Malbec.

Jay is the Iscay available in Manila...? Do you have a reference price for that? I think prices of these single vineyards may be similar to the Iscay, although Im not sure.

Bob,

I believe I have an earlier note on Kaiken as well. I tried the Ultras around the middle of last year but I remember them being very closed and difficult to drink. The regular Kaikens were fine, though. This time around, I think the Ultras were opened an hour or so before the event and that clearly had a positive effect on the wines.

Alex, yes, we have Iscay here. Around USD 60 I think.

One step below the Iscay, Trapiche has the Medalla blend (Cab, Malbec and Merlot) and the Gran Medalla Malbec (varietal with micro climate blending) that are worth checking out. If the Iscay is priced at USD60, I will assume that these other 2 labels will be priced between USD35-40 per bottle.

We get Medalla here and yes it goes for about $ 35. Unfortunately no Gran Medalla but I'll be on the lookout for it.

Trapiche launched the Single Vineyard wines here in Argentina, this was as a huge event held yesterday.

The price for these wines will be USD80 per bottle...

Thanks for the info. That's a pretty hefty price! More single vineyard samples arrived last week but we weren't able to get the group together for a tasting. Will probably do one around the end of this month.