Vina Alicia ‘Paso de Piedra’ Malbec 2012
VEGAN FRIENDLY!
Deep purple in color, with a spicy aroma, plum, raisins, and dark cherry-like flavors. Tannins are soft, velvety, and sweet. Very elegant, full-bodied, and a long finish which shows off its splendor and richness.
90 pts James Suckling
Slightly stewed yet comes out fresh and fruity with dried fruits, spice and berry character. Savory finish.
88 pts Stephen Tanzer’s IWC (ST) – Bright red-ruby. Black cherry and spices on the nose, along with more evolved plum and raisin notes. Supple and spicy, showing good stuffing and lift but also a wide range of ripeness, with a dried berry character juxtaposed with a slight menthol greenness. Nicely concentrated wine but the tannins are a touch dry. — Stephen Tanzer
88 pts Robert Parker Jr.’s The Advocate (LG)
The 2011 Paso de Piedra Malbec was sourced from their old vines in Las Compuertas, fermented in stainless steel and partly aged for six months in used barrels. In order to keep the Malbec character half of the wine never saw any oak and was kept in cement vats. The nose is quite fruit-driven and shows the ripeness of the vintage with aromas of plums and something earthy, with a cherry in liqueur character. It has the internal sweetness of the Malbec as well as the quality of the tannins, which are round. 50,000 bottles produced.
Harvest by hand, in 20k plastic cartons, in order to prevent the grapes from breaking up or other damages. Harvest takes place March 15-20 every year. Fermentation is performed in large oak foudres, with repeated remontage and pissonier, in order to achieve softer tannins and great color. Malolactic fermentation is realized partly in steel tanks and the rest in French oak barrels. The wine then returns to the oak barrels, where they age for 8 months, in order to optimize clarification and develop a more pronounced color. Bottling takes place after a very light filtering process over natural earth, in order to filter out any impurities.
