This is the best vintage yet of La Craie, earning a second perfect score for Edy Del Popolo and David Bonomi’s world-class project, following on from the 100 points awarded to the 2019 Uní del Bonnesant. Made as a co-fermentation of Malbec and 25% Cabernet Franc from what are still only ten-year-old vines, it hails from a cooler, south-facing site in the unofficial Grand Cru of the Monasterio. Focused, vibrant and mouth-wateringly, it has violet and graphite aromas, sculpted tannins, blackberry and red berry fruit and a graceful, ethereal finish. One of the world’s greatest red blends. 2025-40
2021
PerSe La Craie 2021 6x75cl 100/100 TA
Top Score: 100 points!
“One of the world’s greatest red blends”
Price IN BOND
£1,015.00 6 x 75cl Bottles
1 in stock
| Colour | Red |
|---|---|
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Country | Argentina |
| Region | Gualtallary |
100 points Tim Atkin
100 points Heiner Lobenberg
PerSe owns 2.2 hectares of vines high up in Gualtallary, one of the highest sub-regions in the Uco Valley. PerSe’s vineyard is divided into three zones: La Craie, Iubileus and Uní. La Craie is a narrow parcel with a southern exposure, andcompared to the other parcels Iubileus and Uní del Bonnesant, it is the coolest site of PerSe with the highest limestone content in the soil, also clearly recognizable by the vineyard surface studded with white stones. As a result, La Craie is always characterized by precision and is firmer and denser in the glass than the wines from the other parcels. Although the vines here were only planted in bush form (gobelet) in 2013, they already produce a simply impressive concentration and balance. In contrast to most other wineries, there is hardly any irrigation here, resulting in a very low yield and this concentration. Malbec and Cabernet Franc are harvested by hand, then 100% destemmed and spontaneously fermented together in open French barrels. The wine then remains on the skins for 40 days before being matured in the same barrels for 16 months before being bottled without fining or filtration. At first, it is reserved and shy in the glass – it needs a little longer in the air before it reveals its full potential. But then… wow! Dark berries with lots of floral aromas. Dried and fresh violets, rose petals, all very subtle and playful. Wet chalk. Totally tense in the mouth, it feels like a compressed spiral spring jumping apart. An explosion! So much power and yet so full of finesse. The fine acidity indicates the cool altitude. Fresh blackberry, blueberry, green tobacco, everything in the finest balance and yet full of concentration. There are only around 1600 bottles of this amazing elixir. I am totally thrilled!
97 points Patricio Tapia's Descorchados
If the 2021 Lubileus was a kind of transition between the varietal character of malbec and the expression of lime (the latter having a clear predominance), in the case of La Craie, it’s the terroir that commands—the salty sensation that the calcium carbonate superimposes on the fruity, floral, or herbal flavors that come from the mountain malbec. This is a pure expression of place in a very particular place and with tremendous potency, enough to nullify a grape or use it as an instrument to show a terroir. La Craie comes from a parcel that runs along almost the entire property in the Monasterio zone of Gualtallary—long, narrow hillside that faces south (a cold exposure in this hemisphere) that was planted in 2013 on the highest part of the vineyard, at about 1,500 meters above sea level. The soil there is rich in gravel covered with calcium carbonate, and that, along with the freshness of its exposure, have a radical effect on the style of this blend of 70% malbec and 30% cabernet franc, all co-fermented.
