2003 Salentein, Bodegas Salentein

Mendoza, Argentina

Color: Red
Name: Salentein
Vineyard: Bodegas Salentein
Type: Malbec
Origin: Mendoza, Argentina
Year: 2003
Price: $14.00
Rating: 5.2
Pocho's Pick
Review: Excellent wine!!!

This wine has a very prominent and bold berry bouquet. On the palate, this wine is full of flavor and is very lively. The wine is acidic and would complement a bold meal. Better yet, this wine would go very well with cheese and crackers by the fireplace. The finish is dry and nicely extended.
Comments: Bodegas Salentein shares a rich history that parallels the settlement of Argentina by Spanish and Italian immigrants. By the 17th century, Salentein was part of an estancia called De Arriba that belonged to the Jesuits, who were the first to successfully cultivate the vine in Mendoza. The ruins of the original Jesuit farmhouse called Casa Grande are still part of Salentein’s property. They lay surrounded by a grove of trees that were planted by the early missionaries, at nearly 5,000 feet upon sea level.

Salentein is a well endowed, privately held estate whose wines are as impressive as its modern winery. In addition to employing Michel Rolland, France’s most sought after enologist; Salentein occupies a prime location in the foothills of the towering Andes. Its vines soar to 5,600 feet, which makes them some of the loftiest vineyards in the world, The winery itself is built in a shape of a cross and is surrounded by the estate’s four fincas or properties. Each of the four wings of the winery contains its own small winery with two distinct sections: the first at ground level houses stainless steel tanks, while the second lies 8 meters underground and is used for maturing the estate’s wine in oak casks. The four wineries meet in a central chamber that resembles an amphitheater where they share a common bottling facility. Pretty smart thinking we would say.

Bodegas Salentein specializes in the cultivation and production of Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Malbec – Argentina’s specialty. Unlike most other Argentine wineries, Salentein is devoted entirely to premium production, which is evident in the estate’s wines.

Bodegas Salentein, one of the most ambitious and thoughtfully-designed buildings in the rapidly-developing heights of the Uco Valley near Tunuyán surrounded by vineyards at altitudes of between 1,050 and 1,500 metres (3,000 to 4,500 feet). This Dutch-funded enterprise was the first of a host of foreign investors in this viticultural El Dorado and has managed to stake a claim to 2,000 hectares of land, presumably before land prices escalated. (Some of the original land was acquired for as little as 300 dollars a hectare in 1974; by 2002 a hectare here typically cost 5,000 dollars.) They had planted 600 hectares of this by the time I got there but have doubtless planted many more in the last two years.

The winemaker Laureano Gómez was pretty impressive too and, of course, Michel Rolland has had a hand in things, since 1995 I believe. Gómez is crazy about Pinot Noir and has had great success with the Pinot vines planted in Salentein's highest vineyards. Salentein's Pinots have been some of the finest in Latin America.

The Nillni's Great Wine Tasting Adventure

2003 Salentein, Bodegas Salentein