Noemia

The J Alberto from Bodegas Noemia’s owner Hans Vinding-Diers, comes from four hectares of vines planted in 1955 with an ungrafted massale field blend selection, of mostly Malbec but with some 5% Merlot, that was planted at the time in Mainqué, Río Negro. The vineyard has five separate plots that are managed and harvested individually, as they have different soil characteristics, but are all organically and biodynamically-farmed.

For much of Argentina, 2021 was a cooler vintage which brought its own challenges but also offered the potential for fresher styles of wine. Covid restrictions were still in place for the 2021 vintage in Argentina although, after their experience of 2020, wine producers were much better equipped to deal with the extra challenges. In southern Argentina, in Patagonia’s Rio Negro and Neuquén regions, winemakers reported a relatively dry, windy summer with warm daytime temperatures and cooler nights. This combination of conditions for the harvest 2021 led to wines with piercing concentration but also wonderfully fresh acidities with lower pHs.

Bodega Noemia J Alberto Malbec 2021, Patagonia, 13.5% Abv.

A beautifully fresh fragrant vintage showing an attractive aromatics of sweet violets, black cherry, saline creme de cassis, smoky graphite minerality with hints of caramelised blueberries, vanilla pod spice and cherry kirsch liquor nuances. The palate is all about freshness and vibrant energy in perfect symmetry with pure intense saline black berry fruits and seamlessly sweet tannins. While this wine always boasts a powerful depth of fruit and profound textural balance, the 2021 shows an extra special vivacity and invigorating personality making this undoubtedly one of the best J Alberto vintages produced to date. A class act through and through. Drink now to 2040.

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

Noemia’s flagship wine which combines concentration with tremendous elegance and refinement is made from 100% Malbec from 74 year old vines. A Malbec from Mainqué, planted in 1932, aged in 600-litre barrels for 18 months, it boasts a combination of elegance and liveliness that Hans says marks the beginning of a new path in which this old vine vineyard is managed with greater attention to detail and precision. The results in the 2019 Noemia are certainly clear to see.

Bodega Noemia Malbec 2019, Patagonia, 13.5% Abv.

Always one of my highlights of the year, tasting the new vintage of Bodega Noemia from Hans Vinding Diers, who’s knocking it out of the park with his beautiful Patagonian expressions of Malbec. This 2019 is another highly accomplished expression showing impressive elegance, luxurious precision, and a harmonious equilibrium. The aromatics are deep and broody with complex notes of earthy black currant fruits, purple flowers, pithy black cherry and subtle balsamic hints. On the palate the oak is seamlessly integrated allowing a real purity and textural symmetry to prevail. Silky soft with creamy fine powdery tannins, soft fleshy black berry fruits, Parma violets and pink musk rock candy nuances, finishing with a deliciously plummy, saline black fruited persistence. Never short of freshness and energetic vibrancy, this wine is remarkably well made and characterful, becoming a great flag bearer for premium non-Mendoza Malbec. Drink this now or over the next 15 to 20+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Bodegas Noemia wines are imported into the UK by The Wine Treasury. Retail price is circa £45pb for the J Alberto and £120pb for the Noemia flagship red.

I have been buying the impressively individual Patagonian Malbecs from Bodegas Noemia for several years. But unlike the swathes of other Argentinian Malbecs on the market, however well made and enjoyable to drink they may be, many lack that extra individuality, tension, freshness, finesse and complexity. These are all the characteristics that for me, typify the wines made by Hans Vinding-Diers.

Listening to Hans speak is such a privilege as he conveys so animatedly, his passion and determination to make the very best wines possible, very much in the same vein that other winemaking greats do such as Dirk Niepoort in Portugal or indeed his cousin, Peter Sisseck of Dominio de Pingus in Spain.

The new releases for Bodegas Noemia included the new, never before tasted, 2016 A Lisa in its new style Burgundy bottle, the J.Alberto Malbec 2015, and lastly the hotly anticipated Noemia 2015 old vine Malbec.

Bodegas Noemia A Lisa Malbec 2016, Patagonia, 13 Abv.

The new bottle shape seems to be in recognition that this wine is pulling in a different direction to most Malbecs. Pie Franco vines from selection massale, grown on sandy soils from multiple selected vineyards, yearns to be more Burgundy than Bordeaux. Still in a very youthful posture, the nose is rich and spicy with layers of cedar and sappy spice, stem ginger, clove and boxwood. In its Burgundian guise, the wine is impressively elegant and fragrant, showing violets, incense and waxy red berry fruit lift. The palate possess a wonderful, delineated texture, being formed of a 75% stainless steel portion and a 25% portion aged in 2nd, 3rd and 4th fill French oak barrels for 9 months. This new release is superbly suave, elegantly fleshy, and true to its feminine form. A great buy for the price point.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

J.Alberto Malbec 2015, Patagonia, 13.5 Abv.

This stalwart of the range is a 95% Malbec and 5% Merlot blend from a 4 hectare vineyard that has been farmed organically and biodynamically since 2006. 30% was aged in cement tank and 70% in second fill French oak. Vines were planted in 1955 on gravel and clay, with alluvial riverbed soils. At 1.8 meters depth, the vines hit the slightly saline water table, anecdotally adding a slight salty twang to the musts. The 2015 is voluptuously rich, dark and broody with notes of incense, spice, bramble berry, cassis and sweet Victoria plum. There is such a dense texture, an opulent fleshy mocha tinged mulberry depth and a beautifully complex breadth. This is a seriously impressive wine with focus, balance and length.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Bodegas Noemia 2015, Patagonia, 14.5 Abv.

I recently reviewed the amazing 2012 from Hans and the wine still lingers in the back of my mind. Again, this is another 100% Malbec from the designated 1.5 hectare old vine Malbec vineyard planted in 1932. Cropped at only 30 hectolitres per hectare, this premium wine displays a rich, intense broody nose of black plum, cassis, and strawberry confit, with a really dense core and intensity. The nose draws you in and holds you transfixed. 33% new French oak in 600 litre barrels is used making the palate seamless, harmonious and creamy but also with such impressive balance and finesse. The wine has a start but no defined finish, with complex, opulent flavours that just linger on, and on, and on! Such subtlety, this wine really shows a happy vineyard made by a happy winemaker. A real beauty. (Bottled December 2016)

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)