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Finca Decero Malbec 2015 proudly stands as Wine #34 in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2017. Rated 91 Points by WS and also noted as a “Smart Buy”, this wine is described as “an elegant style, with a core of vibrant cherry, plum and currant flavors that are supported by fresh acidity. This is supple mid palate, with a finish that lingers with dried ginger and white pepper details.”

The flagship cuvée is the 2014 Amano, comprised of 66% Malbec, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Petit Verdot and Tannat, all from the Remolinos Vineyard and aged in new French oak. It has classic Malbec blue fruits as well as terrific minerality, notes of violets and peppery herbs, full-bodied richness, and a pure, elegant, incredibly balanced profile. This tour de force in Argentina Malbec should be snatched up by readers. It can be drunk today or cellaring for 7-8 years.

“Opaque ruby. Lively and focused on the nose, displaying fresh cherry, blackberry and floral scents and deeper suggestions of pipe tobacco, olive and licorice. Juicy cherry and dark berry and salty olive paste flavors show very good delineation, and a hint of candied flowers emerges on the back half. Fine-grained tannins build slowly on an impressively long, sweet finish that leaves a suggestion of cherry cola behind.” 

“A blend of 62% Grenache, 33% Shiraz and the rest Sagrantino (the estate is moving more to Mediterranean varieties) brought up in used French oak, the 2015 7th Son offers a ripe, sexy, rounded style that stays light and graceful on the palate. Kirsch, blackberry, herbes de Provence, and dried herb characteristics all emerge from this pretty, incredibly graceful and elegant blend that’s ideal for drinking over the coming 4-5 years.”

“A terrific value is the 2015 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a little gem of a wine based on Montepulciano brought up all in stainless. Loaded with notions of rich cherry and blackberry fruit, leafy herbs, and tobacco, it’s medium-bodied, textured, fruit forward, and incredibly delicious.”

“Cranberries, raspberries, elderberries and fresh herbs dominate on the nose here. Medium to full body, firm tannins and a fresh finish. Drink now.”

“The 2015 Shiraz Angela comes from the clay soils of Sandra’s Block in the southern end of McLaren Vale and spent 18 months in 10% new French oak. It’s a great introduction into the wines of this estate and has charming, forward notes of black raspberries, exotic spices, dried flowers, and candied orange peel. Readers looking for an elegant, easy drinking, not over the top Shiraz that has real character need to check this out.”

Bo Barrett, the CEO of Chateau Montelena, put together a retrospective of the winery’s primarily Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines from the 1970s to the present. It was meant as a testimony to how these wines can age, something that is rarely tested in Northern California as a number producers don’t hold back enough stocks of their older vintages.

Read the full article here.

Ray Isle of Food & Wine highlights Chateau Montelena Chardonnay 2015 in his article “40 Wines That Changed the Way We Drink.” In it, he states, “Cabernet wasn’t California’s only triumph in Paris in the United States’ bicentennial year. The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay…also took top honors. Today Montelena’s Chardonnay is still made in the same restrained, elegant style—the graceful 2015 vintage ($58) being a fine example.”

Read the full article here.