TN: Two from LVMH

A couple of tasting notes from a dinner I attended just before my little sojourn in Limoux earlier this year. Hosted by LVMH after a Krug tasting we kicked off with NV Krug, followed by these two wines from the LVMH portfolio. I enjoyed the Cloudy Bay, for what it was, the freshness of the acidity and fruit the saving graces against a backdrop of a rather obvious layer of oak. The Terrazas? Less convincing I thought. This was - in case it isn’t clear - a dinner courtesy of LVMH, so I didn’t pay for these wines.

Cloudy Bay Chardonnay (Marlborough) 2006: Fresh, smoky oak, fat and tropical fruit on the nose; the fruit is defined and appealing, though, despite that suggestion of fat richness. Indeed it is fresh and nicely textured on the palate, with lots of smoky substance; the barrels are still in evidence here. Good firm acidity though, giving a fine frame for the oaky fruit. A good wine which opened out nicely in the glass, and which is certainly still on the way up. 16.5+/20

Terrazas Malbec (Mendoza) 2006: A darkly coloured wine, which starts off seemingly very sweet and concentrated on the nose, showing firm and dark fruit, although it then turns a little fuzzy, with a slightly confected edge to it. Full and sweet but still very fresh on the palate, a good savoury substance and a leaner structure than I expected. The fruit profile is appealing, less dark than the nose, all strawberry and redcurrant, with a sappy finish. This has a nice approachable style, but lacks great definition or any real sincerity. Nice drinking though. 15.5/20

Chris, pretty sure this Malbec is on the shelf here. Have you tried anything from Balbao lately?
Nice piece on Chablis btw.

Cheers Bob - more on Chablis next week. As for Balbao, sorry, don’t know it at all.

Here in Oregon Sussana Balbo is imported by Vine Connections. I got to taste through some of their wines from Argentina a few weeks ago. They were very impressive and well priced. She also has a less expensive label called Crios.