Informações de produto

Tipo
Tinto
Colheita
2008
Álcool
15.0% vol.
Variedade
75% Tempranillo, 20% Malbec, 5% Cabernet sauvignon
Origem
Mendoza

Avaliação dos peritos

The Wine Advocate:

The 2008 Alfa Crux Blend, a vintage that was slightly warmer than 2007, is sourced from 20- to 70-year old vineyards in the Uco Valley and is a blend of 75% Tempranillo, 20% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon fermented in French oak vats and then transferred to oak barrels (80% French and 20% American) where it matured for 20 months. It has aromas of ripe black fruit, damsons, cherries and blackberries, with well-integrated notes from the oak in the shape of smoke and spices. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with round tannins, glossy and full. Drink 2014-2020.

O. Fournier has vineyards and wines in Argentina, Chile and Spain. I met with owner Jose Manuel Ortega Fournier and winemaker Jose Spisso and we tasted through the current releases from the three countries. I later visited their state-of-the-art winery in La Consulta, in the south of the Uco Valley to have a better understanding of the wines and we conducted extensive vertical tastings of most labels. I’ve limited my notes to the current vintages, as I have done with all wineries. As others have successfully achieved, they are also going into the wine real estate business. With an investment of 150,000 US dollars, an individual can have a part of a vineyard and produce their own blends and wine with their own labels. In Mendoza the total yearly output is 600,000 bottles and 40% of their market is in the US. As with most of the province, they have very poor soils with alluvial stones, and they need irrigation as there is not enough rain. Cement is their second favorite material after oak for fermentation. They have bought a new winery which is 100% cement. About the older vintages: I tasted 2001 and 2002 of the O. Fournier, the first two vintages produced at the winery, and they are aging very slowly and in an elegant way. When queried about changes in production methods, they told me they have not changed their philosophy from the very beginning, nor reduced maceration or use of wood. They believe that if the grapes are good, the wine will be there. By the way, 2002 was one of the best vintages in Argentina.