Dark cherry, cassis, and white pepper notes on the nose right out of the bottle. Rich, bold leather and balsamic notes, some creamy vanilla flavors on the front end with tight tannins bringing up the rear shutting it all down just before you get bowled over. This has been one of my favorites for a few years now and I’m working my way through the final few bottles of a case I’ve been nursing. An hour after the cork pops and after some of the 15% alcohol burns off it opens a bit further, the tannins combine with a creamy cocoa note and chewy leather. The nose takes on a faint greenness, like crushed flowers. It’s more common to run into this wine’s cousins by Fabre Montmayou – the Mendoza Malbecs are nice, but can’t quite keep up with this Rio Negro, Patagonia Cab. I believe this ran around $20-25/ bottle when I bought it. Attempts to find it in the myriad, noisy online wine resources (ya know, the reason why I started this blog in the first place) ran on several later vintages hovering in the $16/ bottle range.

• Rating: Impressive
• Name: Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel Selection 2009 
• Winery:Fabre Montmayou
• Region: Rio Negro, Patagonia
• Country: Argentina  
• Varietals:Cabernet Sauvignon
• Price: $20-$25
• Where to Buy: d’Vines, 3103 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20010