ALAMOS | Bonarda | 2019
bonarda

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Today we are going to review a single varietal bonarda wine from the famous Mendoza region of Argentina – Alamos Bonarda 2019 by Catena Zapata. Bonarda, which is second most planted grape variety in Argentina, is not the same grape as bonarda from Italy, this bonarda (known as charbono in California, douce noir in Piedmont and croatina in Lombardy) found it’s second home at the foothill of the Andes Mountains and we think is going to make a big splash in the coming years. The Catena family, thanks to Nicolas Catena Zapata and his daughter Laura Catena, helped put the country on the world map for top quality malbec wines. The family have been making wine in Mendoza since 1902, with the estate now run by Laura Catena. As well as their visionary work with the malbec, the family have also worked extensively with bonarda . Catena Zapata sources fruit for their Alamos wines from high altitude sites in Mendoza, where the cool nights and hot sunny days produce grapes with ripe flavours and plenty of freshness and aromatics. This particular wine has been fermented in stainless steel tanks to preserve varietal typicity of the bonarda grape and then aged for 9 months in french and american oak barrels to gain more complexity. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium ruby color
clarity: hazy ruby shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: rich & savory
fruit profile: red fruits | blue fruits
__red fruits: red currant | sour cherry | cranberry
__blue fruits: blueberry | blue plum
fruit character: ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: vegetal | oak | savory | earthy
__vegetal: red bell pepper
__spice: red pepper | anise
__oak: rooibos tea
__savory: iron | veal | leather | brown olive | musk | venison
__earthy: loam | clay | brown soil
primary layer: savory

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: medium+
tannin: medium-
__grip: fine
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: lean | medium

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits
fruit character: ripe
non fruit: savory
finish: medium
aftertaste: seedy-tart

//Scoring
ALAMOS | Bonarda | 2019
variety: bonarda
country: Argentina
region: Mendoza
rating: 91.9

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 2 or 3 more years
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Argentina and, with a total of 91.9 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a very lean and supple bonarda wine, with a slightly tart palate and a very nuanced, savory nose. The wine is still developing, therefore we would recommend to give it another 2 to 3 more years of bottle ageing, in order to allow it to reach its full potential. On the nose the wine brings a mixture of savory notes with ripe red and blue fruits in the foreground, followed by a gamey-earthy background and some subtle spiciness in between. On the palate the wine delivers overwhelming acidity, fine-grained tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, leading to a seedy-tart finale. All in all, this is a quite crisp and youthful bonarda wine with a savory profile that in its current state lacks some harmony and finesse on the palate. We would recommend to pair it with delicate, fat-rich meats, like for example venison steak or roasted duck. Enjoy!

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