Premium South American red blends: Panel tasting results

Paz Levinson, Peter Richards MW and Dircau Vianna Junior MW tasted 95 South American red blends, with 4 Outstanding and 46 Highly Recommended.

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release, super-premium red blends with availability in the UK or US markets.

Scroll down to see the tasting notes & scores

The verdict

Considering that all the wines in this tasting were at a super-premium level, the judges were justifiably expecting something special. The strike-rate was impressive, with more than half rated Outstanding or Highly Recommended. Overall there was an admirable degree of consistency, and there was plenty to get excited about.

Most wines displayed excellent concentration and fruit purity with refined texture, depth and complexity. The majority exhibited sophisticated structure with little over-extraction, and good balance despite alcohol levels at 14.5% or above.Oak use has improved significantly, though there were examples of wines displaying excessive oakiness, and the majority of wines were polished and overt, capable of giving pleasure on their own but also with adequate structure to accompany food, especially hearty meat dishes.

Quick link: See all 95 wines from this panel tasting

In general, Chilean producers seem more reluctant to take risks, so some wines were more predictable, less exciting. Argentinian producers, on the other hand, are finally getting the message that freshness and restraint are vital to achieve finesse in a fine wine.

On the evidence of this tasting, producers here seem more open to pushing boundaries by picking earlier – these wines demonstrated more energy and tension, and were considerably more appealing.

For Peter Richards MW, some of the most exciting wines of the tasting came from Uco Valley. Paz Levinson agreed, highlighting the sub-regions of Altamira and Gualtallary.

While Levinson highlighted Cachapoal and Maipo as her best-performing areas in Chile in this tasting, Richards found it harder to draw conclusions as quality seemed to be more dependent on the producer, and he was disappointed that there were so few wines from the Puente Alto area.

In fact, the absence of many of the big names from Chile was noted by all the judges. It’s a shame that some producers are happy to enter comparative tastings with wines from around the world, but much more reticent to be judged against their own peers. Hopefully this will change in the future – for everyone’s benefit.

In Argentina, the tasters agreed that blends of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon worked well. Richards was particularly impressed by blends featuring Cabernet Franc as well as Malbec-Syrah combinations; Levinson praised Malbec-Cabernet Franc blends, especially from Gualtallary.

In Chile, as expected, the vast majority of blends were driven by Cabernet Sauvignon with additional elements of Bordeaux varieties and rare appearances of Syrah. Some of these older vintages of Cabernet-based Chilean wines (2013, 2011 and 2010) showed well and are ageing gracefully in comparison to Malbec-based Argentinian wines, which seem more rewarding to enjoy younger.

In an impressive tasting, quality overall was consistent. South American super-premium red blends are no longer just about exuberant fruit and power. We are seeing a concerted move towards elegance, and producers seem to be working harder than ever to express their terroir.

This must be encouraged and producers must not be afraid of taking risks in search of freshness, elegance, subtlety and enhanced complexity.

Despite the high price-tag, many of these wines can be considered bargains, especially when compared to super-premium red blends from Bordeaux, California and Tuscany.

The scores

95 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 4

Highly Recommended 46

Recommended 37

Commended 4

Fair 1

Poor 0

Faulty 3

The judges

Paz Levinson

Levinson is currently head sommelier at Virtus in Paris and works between France and Argentina as a consultant and educator. She was the first Argentinian to pass the Court of Master Sommeliers’ advanced sommelier certificate, and won the ASI and APAS Best Sommelier of the Americas in 2015.

Peter Richards MW

Richards is an award-winning broadcaster and writer, with more than a decade on BBC1 television and four books including The Wines of Chile and his own Chile Wine Brief. He is the DWWA Regional Chair for Chile and, with his wife Susie Barrie MW, he co-hosts the acclaimed annual Wine Festival Winchester.

Dirceu Vianna Junior MW

Originally from Brazil, Vianna studied forest engineering and law, before moving to London, where he began to work in the wine trade in 1990. In 2008, he became the first South American male to obtain the title of Master of Wine. He is now working as a wine writer, educator, technical consultant and competition judge.

South American red blends

The status of ‘icon’ has to be earned, but what exactly does a wine have to achieve in order to join this upper echelon of New World styles? Dirceu Vianna Junior MW explains…

Nineteen years ago, when Argentina was first making its mark with simple, juicy and easy-textured Malbecs, Nicolás Catena had the dream of creating an Argentinian wine that could compete with the world’s greatest reds. He released the 1997 vintage of his Catena Zapata Cabernet Sauvignon in a series of global blind tastings, pitting it against other 1997s including Château Latour, Opus One, Caymus Special Selection and Antinori’s Solaia. His wine regularly took first or second place.

In Chile, Errazuriz’s Eduardo Chadwick feels a super-premium wine that carries the aspiration to become an ‘icon’ must convey a specific character that can only come from a unique terroir, as well as having an engaging story.

Chadwick is credited for altering the perception of Chile’s premium credentials by hosting a series of blind tastings worldwide to pit his top Cabernets against some of the best Bordeaux, and later icon reds from California, Spain and Italy. The events began in Berlin in 2004, with his Viñedo Chadwick 2000 and Seña 2001 triumphing over Château Lafite Rothschild 2000 and Château Margaux 2001, among others, at a time when Chile was perceived as merely a source for fruit-driven, reliable and inexpensive wines.

High achievers

Despite these solo triumphs, neither country had yet managed to build a convincing reputation as a source of super-premium, icon wines. Most ‘premium’ wines at that time were made solely with the aim of impressing through their power and concentration. The formula included excessively ripe fruit, lots of expensive oak and packaging that often featured an extraordinarily heavy bottle – qualities that regrettably continue today, in some cases.

But these landmark tastings began to challenge the general perception, proving that South American wines could rub shoulders with the world’s best reds – and show elegance too.

Understanding that their countries had the grapes, the terroir and the people able to produce premium wines had an effect beyond enhancing a sense of pride among fellow South American producers – it gave many the confidence and desire to prove their own credentials.

Fifteen years on, and this Decanter panel tasting is an opportune moment to assess just what has been achieved at the premium end of South American wines. It gives us the chance to compare the directions taken by each country and to judge whether these top-end South American wines really can be considered super-premium and worthy of icon status.

Greatness in wine, as in art, is hard to define, as it is highly subjective. A great wine exhibits multiple dimensions in aromatic profile as well as flavour. Whereas some aspects of quality are tangible, easier to grasp – such as concentration of fruit, harmony, complexity and persistence – other parameters are harder to evaluate as they include, among other things, the ability of a wine to stimulate not only our physical senses, but our intellect.

Top South American red blends from the panel tasting:

See all 95 wines from this panel tasting

Argentina: know your vintages

2018 An excellent vintage: warm, sunny days and cool nights ensured perfect ripening.

2017 Forward, exuberant and harmonious reds despite the long, hot summer.

2016 One of the coldest vintages in a decade, resulting in lighter wines with notably crisp acidity.

2015 A long harvest yielding attractive, juicy reds – especially fresh and vibrant for those who picked early.

2014 Low-yielding harvest and wines with assertive acidity that are ageing well.

2013 A notoriously cool vintage. The top-end wines are ageing gracefully.

2012 Low-yielding harvest due to frost. Those who escaped made ripe, juicy, concentrated reds.

Argentina wine grape plantings

Total cultivated area 220,848ha

Malbec 42,999ha

Cabernet Sauvignon 14,666ha

Syrah 12,247ha

Merlot 5,306ha

Cabernet Franc 1,146ha

Petit Verdot 652ha

Source: INV-Database

Chile: know your vintages

2018 Favourable conditions, with moderate temperatures resulting in a promising vintage of harmonious reds.

2017 Abnormally hot vintage including severe wild fires. Despite an early harvest, the wines are marred by the heat.

2016 An excellent vintage, especially for those who opted to pick early.

2015 Noticeably warm vintage yielded ripe, exuberant and succulent reds.

2014 The season started with a frost and finished warm and sunny, resulting in generally good-quality reds.

2013 One of the coolest vintages in recent memory, giving long-lived, sophisticated reds.

2012 A challenging, warm vintage, abnormally humid. Most wines should be drunk now.

Chile wine grape plantings

Total cultivated area 137,375ha

Cabernet Sauvignon 41,156ha

Merlot 11,703ha;

Carmenère 10,250ha

Syrah 7,738ha

Malbec 2,249ha

Cabernet Franc 1,578ha

Petit Verdot 863ha

Source: Wines of Chile

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