Rating

Wine Advocate 90 points (Aug 2009) The 2007 Syrah (50%)-Bonarda (50%) which spent 9 months in French and American oak before bottling without fining or filtration (as is the case for all 3 of the red wines). Dark ruby-colored, it sports an aromatic array of cedar, cinnamon, violets, blueberry, and plum. Medium-bodied, spicy, layered, and well-balanced, this flavorful effort will drink well over the next 4 years.

Wine maker notes

Syrah is the well-known grape of France’s Rhone Valley and Australia’s Shiraz.. Not well-known outside Argentina, Bonarda is surprisingly second only to Malbec in red grape plantings. Its origins are in Italy’s Piedmont region where it represented 30% of all pre-phylloxera plantings. In Mendoza, yields can reach 12 tons per acre (though with little flavor concentration). The key to producing great Bonarda is finding very old vines growing in the warm, sandy soils of eastern Mendoza, then limiting vigor through severe pruning and irrigation techniques. Luckily, Susana’s husband, Pedro, owns and manages such a vineyard.