Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep purple
Nose: An expansive nose of black fruit, violets and graphite. There is spice, but it is savoury and harmonises with the riper fruit aromas.
Palate: The palate is laced with vanilla and nutmeg, but the blackberry and blueberry fruit shines through. The tannins are refined and seamless, offering real approachability, but there number suggests this wine will also age comfortably. Herbs and spices mingle with cassis through to a long and fine finish. This is precise and poised, finding great balance throughout.
Grape Varieties: 62% Malbec and 38% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Awards: 100pts – James Suckling; 98pts – Tim Atkin; 97pts – Wine Advocate-Parker; 95pts – Decanter
History of Cheval des Andes
Cheval des Andes is one of Argentina’s most famous wines. It is made from vineyards in Mendoza and is a joint venture between Saint-Emilion’s Château Cheval Blanc, the legendary Premier Grand Cru Classé A, and Argentina’s Terrazas de los Andes.
The vision of Cheval des Andes is to bring Château Cheval Blanc’s winemaking philosophy – which focusses on cellaring potential and elegance – to Argentina. Cheval des Andes makes wines that age gracefully and “travel through the decades,” according to Pierre Lurton, President of Château Cheval Blanc and Cheval des Andes.
The Bordeaux blend wine is made with grapes from vines as much as 80 years old, planted in the Las Compuertas vineyard in Luján de Cuyo.The high-altitude vineyard, located in the foothills of the Andes, covers 50 hectares (124 acres), and is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot.
The composition of Cheval des Andes varies from vintage to vintage, although the blend is most commonly dominated by Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon.