CHEVAL BLANC & TERRAZAS DE LOS ANDES 'Cheval des Andes' - Mendoza 2016 MAGNUM (los)

Description

Cheval des Andes 2016 is an exceptional collaboration between Terrazas de los Andes and Pierre Lurton, showcasing the remarkable potential of Argentine terroir. This prestigious wine is a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from high-elevation vineyards in Mendoza. It has received impressive accolades, including 99 points from James Suckling, who praised its refined aromas of flowers, spices, and dried fruit, complemented by very fine tannins. The Wine Advocate awarded it 97 points, highlighting its freshness and elegant character, while Vinous gave it 95 points, noting flavours of black raspberry and black pepper. With excellent aging potential, this wine beautifully reflects the artistry of winemaking, offering a captivating experience of elegance and complexity in each glass.

*****

Described as a ‘New World Grand Cru’, Cheval des Andes is a high-end wine project that is a collaboration between Terrazas de los Andes and Pierre Lurton of Cheval Blanc. The joint venture was proposed by Pierre Lurton in 1999 when he realized the potential for top quality wines that existed in certain sites in Mendoza. Lurton was eager in connecting again with the grape of Saint Emilion’s past: Malbec. A grape that was decimated by phylloxera in the 1860s from its position as one of the most important varieties in Saint Emilion and Pomerol. It has since been reincarnated at Cheval des Andes in an un-grafted form in Argentina, producing some of the world’s best Malbecs in recent years. Cheval des Andes wines are a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the high elevation, old vine vineyard "Las Compuertas" near Mendoza.

To Lurton, Cheval des Andes is an “exotic wine with a Bordelais touch”. To Nicolas Audebert, its winemaker and a French ex-pat who used to make Krug and Veuve Clicquot, it’s the “best of two worlds: a combination of the intensity of Argentinian fruit but dressed in a very elegant way with that French style”.

JAMES SUCKLING 99 points
Super refined and beautiful with flowers, spices, dried fruit and hints of stones. Medium to full body with very fine tannins and a gorgeous finish. Shows great finesse and depth. Savory character, as always, but in check. Drink in 2022.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 97+ points
Drink Date: 2020 - 2035
"I also tasted the 2015 and 2016 next to the newly released 2017 to give it some context and to see the evolution and changes implemented in the last few years. The 2016 Cheval des Andes is probably the freshest wine produced to date and the first vintage when they used 100% own grapes. Of the trio of vintages tasted together—2015, 2016 and 2017—this is the one with less alcohol and more freshness, and it remains a more austere expression, reflecting a cooler and wetter year that resulted in a less exuberant wine, a benchmark for freshness. I'm looking forward to 2018 to see where they go in the next cool vintage after this 2016... They produced 60,000 bottles and 2,400 magnums. It was bottled in December 2017." - Luis Gutiérrez, 31st Aug 2020

JANCIS ROBINSON 18+ points
Plummy and rich, but without undue excess. No obvious oak. Tremendous purity and clarity. Very impressive and dense. Some chocolate and smoke on the finish. This has all the power of Mendoza, with complexity already emerging. Finely coiffured tannin giving a tender yet structured palate. Excellent floral aromas too – really impressive. (RH)

DECANTER 95 points
Tasted by: Amanda Barnes
(at Cheval de Andes, 25 Mar 2022)
Part of Planting trees in vineyards: Cheval Blanc and Cheval des Andes
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2040
A cooler vintage which shows delicious freshness in the wine with tension on the palate and crunchy red and black berry fruit profile. Showing very nicely at the moment with silky tannins and hints of exotic spice, but this wine has potential to age for another decade at least.

VINOUS 95 points
Drinking Window 2020 - 2033
From: Argentina Reaches New Heights (Sep 2019)
Bright, dark red-ruby. Wild, musky scents and flavors of black raspberry, black pepper, olive tapenade, licorice and rocky salinity. Plush, savory and seamless; a mouthcoating Malbec-based blend with superb depth and palate presence. As concentrated as this wine is, it's medium-bodied in the style of this cooler year but also remarkably nuanced and harmonious from the start, communicating an impression of restrained sweetness. Finishes extremely long and edge-free, with noble tannins and palate-saturating breadth. Incidentally, with this 2016, Cheval des Andes is now made entirely with estate fruit, from their properties in La Compuertas and Altamira. (aged in 70% new oak) - By Stephen Tanzer on July 2019

WINE ENTHUSIAST 92 points
Rosemary, graphite, cherry and coffee form the nose of this Malbec-based blend. On the palate, rich red fruit flavors are smoothly blended with coffee and spices. It has assertive acidity, silky tannins and a delicious medium finish. — Jesica Vargas