Tasting note
Colour - Deep purply red.

Aroma - Forward, ripe blackberry fruit with a hint of violets and spicy oak.

Taste - Nicely rounded, juicy blackberry and liquorice character with a smoky oak and vanilla edge.

	Type:Still Red Wine		Country:Argentina		Appellation:Famatina Valley
	Grape Type:Shiraz		Drink Before:End of 2011		Body:Rich and Flavoursome
	Alcohol:14%		Bottle Size:75cl		Bottle Code:60338

Description
This is an exclusive parcel of rich, oak-aged Reserva using the 'hottest' red grape in Argentina. Shiraz has long been top-dog in Australia and finally winemakers in South America have decided to try their hand with this variety ... and with enormous success. It seems to thrive on the hot days and, in the best areas, cold nights that slowly ripen the grapes to perfection. The judges at the 2007 'Wines of Argentina Awards' were full of praise for this grape raised in South America.

This silky red is from La Riojana in Gold-Rush Chilecito in the Famatina Valley, a region northwest of the better known Mendoza and San Juan. Its vineyards are planted at altitudes between 800 and 1400 metres, which ensures a long, slow ripening and good health of the grapes.

Indeed many are organic, albeit without a certificate, partly because the growers simply can't afford the luxury of any pest-preventing sprays! The valley is rather out of the way, so you either must drive eight hours and 700 kilometres down the dusty roads from Mendoza, through a desert, or catch a little prop (plane) and fly for two hours.

Winemaker there is the outstanding Rodolfo Griguol, whose father Don Toyo had the job before him. Indeed, Don Toyo still turns up to work everyday, just to keep an eye on the bubbling vats. A portion of this wine was aged in a mixture of French and American oak for six months to give it an extra dimension of flavour.