The Prescient Purchase

The Prescient Purchase
When Herve Fabre arrived in Mendoza in the late 1980s, he couldn't make sense of it. Money was beginning to stream into Argentina, most all of which ticketed for new vineyard plantings. Why were they planting new when they could buy old?

It didn't take Fabre much time to scout out what he wanted and by 1990, he had already secured several dozen hectares of old -- sometimes ancient -- vineyards. As Mendoza grew, the suburbs spread well out of town. Many of the old vines were ripped out to make room for more lucrative land use. As other wineries popped up, focusing on new plantings, Fabre waited, wondering when the world would catch up to the marvel of ancient vine Malbec. The world caught up faster than he could have ever imagined.

This is a monumentally concentrated, 100 year old vine Malbec drawn off the choicest of Fabre Montmayou's Lujan de Cujo holdings in the center cut of Mendoza. Massively concentrated, powerful, but silken, this is even richer and denser than the 92pt 2007 -- a wine that really needs 2 hours in a large carafe before serving. This powerhouse is modern in style (the influence of Michel Rolland and Paul Hobbs are in play), but in the end, it's all about those ancient vines and the prescient purchase.

What makes this Malbec so unique? There are hundreds of Malbec wines pouring into the US. Most are 'negociant' wines -- wines made from purchased fruit and juice, packaged with fancy labels and trotted out like they're the real deal. They're not. In those wines, the aromas are simple and primary, often breaking down after a couple hours of air. Here, it's the contrary. The Gran Reserva is deep, deep purple, but it's a touch closed when opened. You know there's incredible concentration from the color and the texture, but like many Right Bank Bordeaux, at the onset it's slightly shut down. That's ok, give it some time. Slowly the new wood melts into all that lushness and the wine starts to come together. We spent 48 hours with a bottle that we left OPEN on the kitchen table overnight, and it was just coming into its own at dinner on night 3. This is what Argentine Malbec is all about -- if you can find it!

One more thing. Herve's prices, at least for now, remain sensible (way under market value). The Bordeaux emigre has seen up markets and down. Even though the Gran Reserva sells out on release, he wants 'to keep it that way.' Just $17.99/bottle (on cases) for one of the top 2008 Malbec powerhouses. Shipping included on 6.


Tasting Notes from the WineAccess Travel Log
2008 Fabre Montmayou Malbec Gran Reserva Mendoza
"Deep purple/black in color. Deep powerful aromas, but closed at first, laced with fairly heavy toast new wood. Hugely concentrated, packed with dark purple/blue fruit, silken in texture, compact. Fine, firm finish. Day 2: Beginning to show off its huge, sweet fruit core, still silken, more refined on the palate, wonderful long finish. Day 3: Fully open and opulent, lush and sweet, the wood completely integrated into the wine. Lots and lots of muscle. Pair it with a grilled New York Strip and just forget about it. Drink now after two hours in a carafe or age for up to a decade in a cool cellar."