The Trapiche Malbec Single Vineyard selection was an annual release chosen from three of the best Malbec wines of each harvest produced by Trapiche’s head winemaker Daniel Pi. Changing every year, some vineyard selections eventually started to reappear over time, proving the vineyards’ exceptional terroir and quality potential. The wines were made to communicate the extraordinary potential of Argentina’s vast array of terroirs and their effect on their flagship cultivar – Malbec. 

This 2008 selection, which I thought was the best of the three single vineyard releases at the time, was sourced from the Jorge Miralles vineyard. Jorge was born in Chivilcoy, a province of Buenos Aires, and came to Mendoza when he was 8 years old. His father was a wine broker and in 1960, he decided to invest all his savings into an estate in La Consulta. Jorge subsequently inherited the estate and four years later he sold it to invest in a bigger vineyard also located in La Consulta. 68-year-old Jorge (in 2008) dedicated a great deal of his life to working this vineyard located at 970 metres altitude. 

Trapiche Malbec Vina Jorge Miralles Malbec 2008 Single Vineyard La Consulta, Mendoza, 15% Abv.

This is a phenomenal Malbec expression that at 18 years old is simply singing. Spending 18 months in new French oak barrels, this “Jorge Miralles” vineyard was only 10 years old when harvested in 2008 and offers up some incredibly expressive aromatics with a youthful perfume and fruit profile you would think is no more than 5 years old if tasted blind. The nose is full of deep, dark, blue, and black berry fruits, damson plums, blueberries, black cherries, and a defined vein of melted salty black liquorice. While this wine used to have a broad spectrum of dusty cocoa and mocha chocolate powder characters on release, now, this character has tightened up and turned into a picante black bitter chocolate note. On the palate, the colour is still dense, opaque, and impenetrable with a cool fleshy entry on first taste, the tannins incredibly sweet and creamy, supported by plush, juicy, black berry fruits, mulberry and black currant compote. While obviously made in a ripe style, the alcohol is imperceptible and the balance super cool, sleek and harmonious. I loved this wine on release and knew it had enough stuffing for the long haul, but I would never have expected it to age this well. What a beauty! At 18 years old, there is no rush to drink this outstanding 2008 Malbec which should still age gracefully for another decade or more.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)