Cheval Des Andes 2018 | Mendoza
94.90 €
Cheval des Andes was born from the collaboration between the prestigious Château Cheval Blanc (1er cru Classé A from St Emilion) and the Terrazas de los Andes winery located in Mendoza. The farm owes its name to the "terraces" that emerge at the foot of the Andes Mountains in Argentina and is made up of 50 hectares of vineyards.
The grapes are vinified in small stainless steel tanks with a capacity of 80 hl. Aged for 14 months in oak barrels from "Centre France". 70% new barrels and 30% barrels with one year of use.
PARKER: 98
The 2018 Cheval des Andes is a blend of 70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon fermented in small lots in 3,000- to 8,000-liter tanks and matured 40% in 225-liter oak barrels, 40% in 400-liter oak barrels and the remaining 20% in 2,500-liter oak vats for 13 months. Ninety percent of the oak used was French and the rest a blend of Austrian, Slovenian and German oak, 50% of it new. 2018 has been one of the best vintages in recent times in Mendoza, and the wine shows it. It's a cooler vintage, and the wine has improved in freshness and elegance without losing any clout. It's 14.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.73. This is young, juicy, elegant and balanced and still has some herbal and toasted notes; it's medium to full-bodied, with the creamy and luxurious texture of the modern Bordeaux, ultra fine tannins and a long, dry and precise finish. It's still undeveloped and seems to have all the components and the balance between them for a long and positive development in bottle. With wines like this, I sometimes wish I had a time machine so I could see them in 20 years from now... I think this is the finest Cheval des Andes I've ever tasted. 100,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2020.
