Mendoza’s Perfect Malbec, California’s Coastal Gems and a New Latour: Weekly Tasting Report (March 8-14)
The Viña Cobos Malbec Mendoza Cobos 2019 shows intensity, structure and precision. It may be Argentina's greatest wine ever.
I have to wonder if Viña Cobos Malbec Mendoza Cobos is Argentina’s greatest wine. I have rated various vintages, including the 2019, 100 points on three occasions in the last decade, making it the most consistently highly rated wine from the country since JamesSuckling.com began in December 2010.
What I like about the pure malbec is its intensity, structure and precision. It has everything in the right place, and not too much or too little of anything. It has more in common with a great cult wine from California than a First Growth Bordeaux. That makes sense because the owner and head winemaker of Viña Cobos is California’s renowned winemaker, Paul Hobbs. I wonder if all the lovers of his popular high-end Napa cabernets or Sonoma pinots and chardonnays know that his best wine is from Mendoza.
I met up with Hobbs last Thursday at his winery in Sonoma, and I tasted and rated the new releases from Viña Cobos. Check out the scores in this report and the video of Hobbs, right.
“We think these wines play in the world-class league and we compare them to the very best,” he said during the tasting. “We think that Argentina should be recognized as one of the great regions of the world.” JamesSuckling.com couldn’t agree more.
There are plenty of other exciting wines in this week’s report from the editors at JamesSuckling.com, from California Coastal gems to Rhone beauties, not to mention all the other Argentine wines after the Viña Cobos Malbec Mendoza Cobos 2019.
ARGENTINA’S PROMISE: James and Paul Hobbs, the founder of Viña Cobos, discuss Argentina’s 2019 vintage and how it stacks up against 2018 and ’20,
READ MORE TASTING SONOMA WINES: BOLDER AND BRIGHTER, WITH A UNIQUE COASTAL KICK
I also want to share with you my theory about pinot noirs and chardonnays from coastal regions of California such as Sonoma Coast, Santa Rita Hills and Monterey. Some great wines are coming out of here and show an incredible energy and verve. This comes from the large difference of temperature from night to day, which allows grapes to ripen beautifully but at the same time keep high natural acidities. The cool fog that rolls off the deep and cold Pacific Ocean also mitigates the heat of the summer growing seasons in these regions.
I spent Friday traveling with Carlo Mondavi, one of the owners of Raen Winery on the West Sonoma Coast, to better understand why he is making some of my favorite California pinot noirs. His tiny-production chardonnay reminds me of Raveneau Chablis.
It was more than obvious how the fog influences Raen’s mountainous vineyards about a half an hour drive inland from the coastal town of Jenner. The morning was brisk and clear with intense sunlight from the sky and the sea, but by about 1 p.m. a thick blanket of fog had rolled in off the Pacific, making it cold and moist. Then it rolled back out in the late afternoon as the sun set. It was like two days in one.
THE MONDAVI TOUCH: Carlo Mondavi of Raen Winery talks with James about the characteristics of recent vintages.
“The West Sonoma Coast has a unique climate that can’t be compared to anywhere else in Sonoma,” pointed out Mondavi, who makes his wines with his brother Dante.
They are the sons of Tim Mondavi of Napa’s Continuum and the grandsons of the late Robert Mondavi. Check out the video with Carlo Mondavi while tasting and rating current releases of the Raen single-vineyard pinots and chardonnays as well as some old releases to see how they age.
Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt talks via Zoom with Valentina Abbona, of Marchesi di Barolo winery. Abbona described the 2018 vintage, which includes their Barolo del Comune di Barolo and their single-vineyard wines, Coste di Rose, Cannubi and Sarmassa, as a “Burgundy-style vintage” that allows the wines to express distinct differences between specific terroirs within the commune of Barolo.
THE HONG KONG STORY BEHIND EDEN RIFT
I also had the chance last week to visit an old friend from Hong Kong, Christian Pillsbury, the owner of Eden Rift. It’s a historical winery about two hours south of San Francisco near the agricultural town of Hollister. I remember when Christian left Hong Kong after buying the property in 2016. And I doubted his decision. I couldn’t see him trading in his city life for a tractor out in the middle of nowhere. But I could tell from the smile on his face that he made the right move, and his pinots and chardonnays from his limestone soils are making terrific young wines.
A few minutes after arriving at Eden Rift in the late afternoon, I was on top of a mountain overseeing his nearly 100 acres of vineyards, many of which are terraced. The estate dates back to the 1800s but fell into disrepair in the 1990s until Christian took over. He lives with his stray dog from Hong Kong on the estate, which includes a stunning Arts and Crafts house built in 1906 by a disciple of the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright – Walter Burley Griffin.
It’s worth a visit if you are in that area south of San Jose in the depths of California farmland. Neighbors include Calera, which is a legend for California pinot.
I was in similar awe the week before farther south in the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Rita Hills at the Jonata Estate and The Hilt winery, respectively. They share the same owner as the super cult wine of Screaming Eagle, Stan Kroenke. He also owns Burgundy’s great white wine estate of Bonneau du Martray. I found the Rhone-inspired wines of Jonata to be of extremely high quality, but it was the chardonnays of The Hilt that were really superb.
Again, it was the massive changes in temperatures from hot days to cold nights during the grape-growing season that produced chards that reminded me of grand crus Chablis. The Hilt chardonnays show a rich and ripe fruit character, but then steely and vibrant acidity at the finish. Watch out for these whites.
Don’t miss the various wines from the southern Rhone that Senior Editor Stuart Pigott reviewed while on a road trip there. They include current vintages and barrels samples from such illustrious names as Beaucastel, Domaine du Pegau and Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe.
One last thing. Chateau Latour just released on the market today their newest vintage – 2014. We tasted it last week with Les Forts de Latour Pauillac 2016. These wines come directly from the cellar of the winery and are worth seeking out. Look at the ratings.
More tastings from Napa Valley coming this week as well as Argentina and the rest of the world.
– James Suckling, Chairman/Editor
The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.
Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.