($150) Bright, saturated ruby. Explosively sweet aromas of black raspberry, sexy oak and tropical dark chocolate. Lush, layered and superripe, with a texture like liquid velvet. Sappy-sweet flavors of black raspberry and blackberry. An extremely deep, pliant and mouthfilling malbec with no rough edges. More elegant than the Bramare bottling. Finishes with big, broad tannins and superb length. This was aged in mostly French barrels, whereas the Bramare featured more American oak. (Another sample of the same wine was quite reduced, but showed similar sweetness and richness in the mouth.)

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Paul Hobbs produces extraordinary Malbecs in Argentina. Prices for these wines have increased significantly, and there may be a consumer backlash because of that, but there is no doubting their quality. This cuvee is made from 80-year old vines.

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A stunner, with lush, exotically ripe plum, fig, blackberry and currant compote flavors that are seamlessly layered with mocha, floral, tar and bacony toast. Powerful, but as creamy as coconut milk on the superlong finish. A confidently flamboyant wine. 567 cases made.

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ripe. round and elegant