2002 Cheval des Andes

This new offshoot of Chandon Argentina, located in Perdriel, actually has a relatively long history by the standards of modern-day winemaking in Argentina.Moet & Chandon sent their top winemaker to check out the vast potential of this country back in 1955, and the company set up a sparkling wine venture in 1959.But the Terrazas still wine operation began only with the 1996 vintage.Chandon Argentina owns 800 hectares of vineyards and makes about 200,000 cases annually under the Terrazas label.The varietal bottlings are roughly half from estate fruit and half purchased, the reserva bottlings are 70% from owned fruit, and the Afincado range (formerly called gran reserva) is entirely from old estate vines in the Vistalba district.Cheval des Andes, also from estate grapes, is a joint venture between Cheval Blanc director Pierre Lurton and Terrazas.At the level of the Afincado and Cheval des Andes wines, notes director of enology Manuel Louzada, vine yields are in the very low 30 hectoliters-per-hectare range.The large, airy, brick-arched winery at Terrazas, which dates back to 1898, was rebuilt in 1998.Most wines here are fermented in stainless steel, but a good bit of expensive Taransaud oak is used to age the top wines.Louzada describes 2002 as an outstanding vintage for malbec, and 2003 as very good for both malbec and cabernet sauvignon.Vintage 2004, he adds, is a great malbec year, and 2005 is also a terrific vintage, except for syrah from Maipu, where it rained just before the harvest.(Moet Hennessy USA, New York, NY) Also tasted: 2004 Merlot Mendoza.