Wine Duel of Classic, Old Wines Reloaded

The last wine tasting of the year!. Tonight, December 30th 2008, with my friend Horace we will witness an unusual wine duel, between two old Argentine syrah varietals. On the red corner we have a Viña el Cerno Syrah vintage 1999, and on the blue corner, we have a Trapiche Syrah vintage 1996. Both wines hail from Maipú in the Mendoza province of Argentina. The most traditional wine region of that  country. Trapiche is a large and old winery, with substantial exports these days. We have less information on the other winery, but it seems to be a small, family-owned winery.

A peculiarity of this tasting is that the Trapiche came in a very unusual 500 ml bottle. I have no idea why the winery at the time (and for several years, at least) decided to bottle this syrah wine in such small bottles. Marketing gimmick, maybe?

After an hour of having opened both bottles and decanted them, we start with the Viña el Cerno. In nose, the bouquet smells alcoholic and old wood. No vanilla or fruit at all. Now, the tasting. The wine is still closed. What we can perceive is that the attack is very soft, while the middle and the finish are interesting in that the taste does linger, but not too much. This wine is quite unlike many strong, full-bodied shiraz wines I have had from Australia in the past, and which are often the reference point to which we compare good syrah (and we try not to drink bad ones!). The wine we are drinking tonight is a different type of syrah. Very mellow, very tame. It most certainly does not have the structure of the blends we tasted last week. This wine is interesting, among other things, in that it has been made in the classic style, with a lot of wood and most likely with aging in large oak casks (rather than small 228 l ones of more modern wines).

Horace says, and I concur, that the Argentine shyrah wines we have had in the past seem in general to be much milder in character compared to the full-force of good Australian shiraz wines (e.g. Mount Ida).

Now, the Trapiche. In nose, it is noticeable the wood, it smells less of alcohol and in the bouquet there is some smell that is a cross between leather and bone. The aroma is really delicious. Tasting it, the attack is very soft, the middle is much denser than the other one, and it has some very mature fruit. Not that the wine is “fruity”, of course. When the finish fades away, you can feel the complex flavour of the wine on the walls of the throat.

The second glass of the Viña el Cerno shows a stronger middle, full of of wood. So much so that it saturates the senses. Leaving the wine for a while in the mouth leads to a sensation of astringency that is unlike other syrahs I've had in the past.

These syrah wines are so unlike other wines made with the same grape variety that is is difficult to think these wines gaining wide acceptance today as syrah varietals. Not only because of the emphasis on old wood, but also due to the difference of taste vis a vis other, more full-bodied wines made with the syrah grape.

The second glass of the Trapiche shows a noticeable change in terms of bouquet. The aroma has a complexity that the previous glasses did not have. For example, we can now smell almonds or pistachos....more likely the latter. Additionally, the finish of this second glass is even more marked, with a progression to the mid-upper level of the mouth.

At the third glasses, there are few points to add. What is clear, though, is that both wines complement each other almost perfectly, as one of them has a very potent and full middle, while the other one has a complex and persistent finish and a complex bouquet. The only missing point is more structure maybe a more complex bouquet at the Viña el Cerno.

All in all, a fantastic end to this year of Our Lord 2008. Happy new year to all of you out there!

In Vino, Veritas!