2006 Poesia

The 2006 Poesia has a more open nose than the 2005, with a crisp blackberry, raspberry leaf, mulberry and crushed violets-scented bouquet that gathers momentum with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, with an exuberant dark plum-driven entry matched by crisp acidity and a firm, but not intrusive, structure on the focused finish. This is maturing superbly. Drink now-2022. Bodega Poesia was founded in 2000, when Helene Garcin-Leveque was seeking a property of her own (her family is the proprietor of Clos l’Eglise in Pomerol among others.) She discovered a small vineyard located between Mendel and Cheval des Andes: 13-hectares of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter planted on its own rootstock in 1935. The vineyard is comprised of four rows of vines interpolated by a row of olive trees that Helene thought looked like a Garden of Eden and so she christened it “Poesia,” “poetry” in Spanish. Since the inaugural 2001, the wine has been made in a rented winery; however, they use their own vats and barrels during vinification. Helene’s husband, Patrice, flies down regularly to oversee the vineyard and vinify the wines, and for the last two years he has enlisted the consultancy of the father of Santiago Mayorga (winemaker at Mendel). The goal is to make a high end wine and to make “the terroir speak.” The vines are cultivated organically, although they are not seeking certification, and they harvest early but ripe in order to capture the acidity, which hovers around a pH of 3.75. The “Clos des Andes” is designed to show the best Malbec on their property, where they feel that the fruit is “less heavy.” It is hand-harvested and fermented in wooden, stainless steel and concrete tanks (50-80 hectoliters in size). After a long cuvaison, the wine undergoes partial malolactic in barrel and then sees 40% to 60% new oak in 300-liter barrels rather than 225 liters. Various importers.

The purple-colored 2006 Poesia, sourced from an 80-year-old vineyard in Lujan de Cuyo, was barrel fermented and aged for 18 months in new French oak. It is a blend of 60% Malbec and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. It exhibits a brooding nose of smoky new oak, mineral, damp earth, black currant, black cherry, and blackberry followed by a plush, nearly opulent wine with great depth of fruit, complex flavors with notes of espresso and chocolate emerging on the palate, superb grip, and 5-7 years of aging potential. Drink this superb effort from 2013 to 2030. Bodega Poesia is owned by Bordeaux proprietors Helene Garcin and Patrice Leveque, with Leveque doubling as winemaker with consultation from Dr. Alain Raynaud. Importer: Bob Bofman Selections, Austin, TX; tel. 512-919-9463, bob@bobbofman.com

60% Malbec, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; aged for 18 months in 100% new French oak barrels, organic . Scented and quite correct and ‘straight backed’. Serious structure. And more Bordeaux than previous vintages with such richness!! (JR)