A floral lovefest for your olfactory system.
100% Bonarda from Rivadavia and San Martin in Mendoza, Argentina. The wine spent 4 months in American Oak. It has a residual sugar level of 3.96g/L.
The Argento Bonarda has an SRP of $18. Imported by Blends Inc. Sample submitted for review.
From the bottle:
Wine has been made in Mendoza for centuries. Today we know how to get the best results. Our vines respond well to high altitudes, a cool climate and the natural source of mountain water straight from the Andes.
This superb Bonarda offers an intense nose of fresh raspberries with light floral notes. Ripe red berry fruit flavours are combined with a touch of violet and lead into a soft, round finish.
13.5% Alcohol
Malbec, a grape variety brought over from France, gets all the headlines in Argentina these days but this isn't the only variety that has made a successful transition from it's mother country to Argentina. Bonarda, the second most planted red grape, is also a transplant from France, this time the Savoie region bordering Switzerland. The Bonarda grape, however, is little known elsewhere these days although there some plantings in California where it is called Charbono.
The first thing that stands out about the 2013 Argento Bonarda is that it smells purple! The bouquet is chocked full of black raspberry, violet and lavender along with a little spice. You'll want to give this wine a bit of air before tasting it as it needs some time to open up, but it does so nicely. Black cherry and oaky spice combine with a soft and smooth texture to create an easy to drink, very satisfying wine. It ends dry and quite long with a final burst of oaky spice. Violaceous!
