Saturday, January 30, 2010

2006 La Posta BONARDA "Estela Armando Vineyard" (Mendoza, Argentina)


Bonarda -- a grape that takes a back seat to Nebbiolo in the Novara area of Piemonte in Italy -- can produce wines of greater depth and distinction in Argentina. This Bonarda proves the point.

Fully saturated violet-tinged dark ruby. Lively and ripe nose -- sweet, smoky gravel, and lots of ripe blackberry fruit. Medium-full to full bodied, it has an intense initial attack of minerally blackberry fruit, which morphs quickly into a sequential parade of mixed berry extracts that clings to the palate. Lots and lots of youthful tannin to resolve, but it's not too rough to enjoy now. 88. Very nice value at $14 at the new Spec's at Weslayan and Bissonnet.

2 comments:

Ikal 1150 Wines of Argentina said...

Thanks for the post, do you ever serve Bonarda chilled?

Tom Casagrande said...

You mean like a Beaujolais? No, I have not done that. The only red wines I typically consider serving cool are wines that, like Beaujolais, are relatively light, have lots of fruit, and no tannin.