We went out to one of my favorite Argentine steak houses last night, El Primo, so that I could savor some tasty flank steak. I wanted to get a nice bottle of wine, as always, and perused the menu, to find the Michel Rolland Clos de los Siete blend.
Michel Rolland, of course, is the most important enologist in the world, commanding about 80,000 US Dollars per year to consult with wineries. We hear that his is consulting with well over 100 at this point, which makes me quite jealous of how much he is bringing down per year. You can see how he rides around in a little known movie called Mondovino.
Rolland is known for globalizing a certain style of wine: extracted, oaked and very fruit. This blend from his own personal project lies more on the extracted and oaked side and to me, especially at first, lacked some fruit and finesse. If you do choose to get this wine, which is not for everyone, you should let it breath or decant as it is quite dense and oaky, and to get any fruit at all you need to wait a while (I waited a full day).
When I opened this bottle, and tasted it, I would have told you that I personally do not like it, the style is not for me… too much, too oaky. I only drank half the bottle though, and saved the other half for today (right now in fact). It is now starting to show more character, give some nice aromas and have a little finesse.
This is a deeply colored wine, with a nose of licorice and blackberry syrup. More blackberry syrup (like the kind you would put on pancakes) is present in this super rich and dense mouth. This wine on opening, however, actually lacked fruit completely and I would have described it as green bell pepper and tannin, probably from the cabernet and merlot. (It is a blend of 57% Malbec, 15% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah, 3% Petit Verdot).
Although it only has 12 months in oak, it feels like more. It definitely begs fatty meat to go with it, and for those who love rich, full, Rolland style wines, this will be a winner. For those who like softer more feminine wines, though, this will not be a good choice.
Incoming search terms:
- clos de los siete 2009
- clos de los siete 2009 review
- clos de los siete by michel rolland 2009
- 2009 clos de los siete
- clos los siete 2009 argentine
- clos de los siete michel bell
- michel rolland clos de los siete 2009
- clos de los siete 2009 tasting critics
- clos de los siete 2009 ratings
- clos de los siete argentina 2009 review
Related posts:
- Argentine Wine Review: Clos de Andes by Bodega Poesia
- Argentina Wine Review – Ricardo Santos Malbec 2009
- Argentine Wine Review: San Pedro de Yacochuya – Malbec from Salta
- Argentine Wine Review: Tukma Reserve Malbec 2009
- Argentine Wine Review – Salentein Malbec 2009 from Bodegas Salentein
