2019 Cheval des Andes

The collaboration between Cheval Blanc from Saint-Emilion and Terrazas from Mendoza has an additional unexpected French touch. The founder and owner of Terrazas is namely the prestigious Champagne house Moët & Chandon. The style of Cheval des Andes is unique with all elements inspired by Cheval Blanc. The wine of Cheval des Andes combines the lively and intense expression of Argentinean Malbec with the rigor, elegance and savoir-faire of a great Bordeaux. The vision of Cheval des Andes is to bring the winemaking philosophy of Château Cheval Blanc - which focuses on ageing possibilities and elegance - to Argentina. Cheval des Andes makes wines that age gracefully and "travel through the decades", according to Pierre Lurton, chairman of Château Cheval Blanc and Cheval des Andes.

The Cheval des Andes 2019 had a more reductive vinification and élevage as one of their goals was to make a wine that can age (even) longer. Another goal is to get to a 50/50 blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, which they achieved for the first time in this vintage, going back to the original character of the wine, that was the idea of the Argentinian winemaker Roberto de la Mota. This is the first vintage that is entirely under the care of the new French winemaker, Gerald Gabillet, who fermented by plot and isolated some specific parts of the vineyard, such as the edges where irrigation tends to give higher yields. It was aged in 225 and 400 liter oak barrels and in oak barrels. They used more Stockinger barrels and casks and the wine is aged in oak for an average of 13-14 months, but some lots get 11 months and others 16 months. 2019 was a mild vintage, cooler than 2017 and warmer than 2018, with rain at just the right time, which helped to avoid waterlogging stress, and without the extremes (which they had in 2020 with three weeks of extreme heat). The wine is young and tender and a little oaky at around 14.2% alcohol, soft acidity and velvety tannins. There is more Cabernet here, so the aromatic expression could be something between 2017 and 2018, but Cabernet marks the palate a lot and makes the wine more age-worthy, as it gives the structure and length that the Malbec lacks. So the wine is perhaps less approachable when young and should develop slowly in bottle. It is nice and smooth and has the ingredients and balance for what they are going for. In the following vintages they follow this path, and Gabillet believes that with more precision the wines can better reflect the differences between the vintages. The Cheval de Andes has an elegant and powerful profile with the luxurious and creamy character that can be found in the best Bordeaux wines of recent years, wines with power, precision, concentration, energy and finesse. The way they want to describe the wine is the Argentinian expression of Cheval Blanc and that is absolutely right