NOEMIA PATAGONIA 10 MALBEC
WINE SPECTATOR 95 POINTS - "This red is dark, yet very fresh and well-balanced, exhibiting a racy mix of cassis, boysenberry and blueberry coulis notes tightly wound around fine tannins and a firm, minerally spine. Layered flavors of spice, smoke and wildflowers expand in the long finish."The top estate wine from a 3 ½ acres planted in 1932—this is a rare jewel as production ranges from 250-350 cases a year.
Noemia Patagonia is one of those wineries that has everything going for it—great vineyards in a unique site; one of the world’s most highly regarded winemakers; impeccable Bio-Dynamic farming; and undeniably delicious wine that is praised by every critic who tastes them. Why aren’t they better known? It’s not for lack of media attention—in three-of-the-last-four vintages (2008–2011) one of the Noemia wines has been the highest rated Malbec reviewed by Wine Spectator, not just from Argentina, but from anywhere in the world (the exception is the 2010 vintage when the top estate wine from Noemia earned 95pts, second among 2010 Malbecs). Noemia Patagonia is tiny production and far from the center of Argentina’s bustling wine trade. Situated in the Rio Negro Valley roughly 400 miles south of Mendoza, the elevations are lower, but the climate is cooler. As an historic apple and pear growing region, there is a resemblance to the cool climate of California’s Russian River, albeit a much drier and mountainous cool-climate. The three bottling from Noemia Patagonia all focus on small plots of old vines. The resulting wine is a brighter, more aromatic Malbec, with great persistence and beauty. These wines are like nothing else in the Malbec category—and yet, these are not “intellectual” or difficult wines, as the Noemia line-up retains plenty of up-front Malbec yumminess.
