2020 PerSe, La Craie, Gualtallary, Mendoza, Argentina

The 2020 La Craie is a co-fermentation of Malbec and Cabernet Franc from El Monasterio in Gualtallary, Uco Valley, specifically a plot that faces south and sits on a hill with calcareous soils. Aged in neutral French oak barrels, it's purple in colour. The nose has a high-altitude character of herbal notes such as sage and ash and subtle hints of black- and blueberry.

It's lean and electric on the palate, with taut, chalky tannins, mouthwatering acidity and a balanced, sculpted feel before the prolix, primary finish. It has a Venturi effect in the mouth, compressing itself in the middle before allowing the energy to flow freely.

Drink 2023 - 2035

912 bottles were filled in December 2021.

The 2020 La Craie was also picked earlier, and the wine achieved lower alcohol 14%) than the 2019 through fermenting the destemmed grapes in their new crylon vats. It matured in used 225-litre barrels for 16 months, the same barrels they have always used from the beginning. It's a less austere expression of LaCraie, more open, aromatic and gentler but keeping the personality, the delicate tannins and the DNA from the place, the large bones with little meat—a great effort for the vintage.

Drink 2023 - 2030