Achaval Ferrer, Finca Bella Vista, Mendoza

Just beautiful. Drink up.

2004 vintage

- A Medium finish.

2004 vintage

Big wine! Still a long way to go. High acidity, lots of fruit. Big and not very complex but great.

2004 vintage

Great wine, balanced and big. Ready to drink with a long way to go. The acidity, high but not overwhelming, makes it interesting, though by the end of the bottle it was a little too much. So share it and it will go fast. It needs a few hours of decanting to open up. Don't get impatient or it will not show its greatness at all. Lots of sediments.

2004 vintage

Always a treat. At 12 years of age, still has miles to go. Floral power, with gobbles of minerality, graphite, blue/red fruits. Rich and velvety. Brilliant length. Powerful yet agile and..believe it or not, fresh.

2004 vintage

Convinced friend that Malbec can be great with this wine

2004 vintage

PNP, drank one glass over about 1.5 hours and drank alongside the 2002 Achaval-Ferrer Finaca Altamira and 2010 Achaval-Ferrer Finca Bella Vista. Quite vibrant initially. Way more acid than other two wines, such that after about an hour the acid becomes excessive and distracting. It reminds me of black currant liqueur.

2004 vintage

Very nice wine with blueberries, pepper, coffee, and exotic spices. Long finish and drink or hold.

2004 vintage

South American Stars (Rocknroller's (Kevin & Vicki's Place)) : Purple red color. PNP, drank 1 glass over 30 minutes. Very nice nose with dried earth, cassis, bramble, subtle florals. The palate is full bodied, concentrated, spiced, more depth, higher acid, sour fruit, black brambly fruit of cassis, kir, and black cherry; tangy, wood, tobacco and dried herbs with a medium finish. Rather slurpilicious. Drinking well and can go 5 years.

2004 vintage

The wine exhibits an ink black core with a bright ruby red border. Very aromatic on the nose revealing dark cherries, blackberries, blueberries, violets, black truffles, cacao, tar, graphite, leather, creamy vanilla, and crushed stones. The initial impression on the palate shows sour cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and plums on the attack. The mid palate is filled with licorice, dark chocolate, espresso, with charcoal like texture, and intense refreshing acidity that continues on the long lasting finish that reveals spices, …

2004 vintage

Very thin, strong rasberry notes, but lacking complexity. Wouldn't recommend it and bottle didn't seem off.

2004 vintage

South American Tasting (Jan's House) : Wonderful showing with dust, sour cherry, earth, mild oak and vanilla. Integrated tannins and medium to long finish. More secondary character at this stage. Decanted one hour.

2004 vintage

Normally not a big fan of malbec but loved this. Agree with a earlier post that this is more like a left bank bordeaux than the typical malbec from Argentina. Ripe but well-balanced dark fruit with pencil lead and spice. No jammy feeling on the palate whatsoever. Long life ahead.

2004 vintage

Espetacular! Elegante, encorpado, acidez excelente. Complexo e longo. Ainda em plena vida. Demais!

2004 vintage

Fantastic, rich blackberry cobbler and violets. None of the "issues" that can plague Malbec (i.e. no noticeable heat, not syrupy, pruney, etc). Long finish. Definitely a "new world" wine, but one of the best...

2004 vintage

Not your typical Malbec quaffer. This has more in common with a Left Bank Bordeaux. Graphite and other minerals at the forefront. Dark plum fruit with just a hint of sweetness. A touch of vanilla and a floral quality on the nose. Took a while for the tannins to soften to this point; much longer and I'm afraid the fruit would have vanished. Definitely a food wine.

2004 vintage

Another nice showing and the nose was fantastic. Blackberries, blueberries, coffee, spice and earth. Full bodied wine and extremely long finish. Fine sediment in the glass and filtered out some larger pieces. True unfiltered wine at its best. Should age another decade or more.

2004 vintage

Vintage Champagne and Mixed Wines Offline (John and Erin's) : Purple black, inky color. The nose really stands out with blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry, wet leaves, slightly sweetish plum, violets, and spice. The palate bounces around some though. Initially, I found it very disjointed, over the top spice, oaky, and a bit of heat, but then it settled down over about 20 minutes and integrated nicely. The midpalate on this is great, nice lush fruit, dense on the palate, glycerin, long …

2004 vintage

Dark purple color, ripe blackberry fruit nose with plenty of vanilla that sometimes outshines the fruit. Thick, ripe palate with good fruit intensity and plenty of plush tannin, but not grainy/chalky in that overoaked way -- this saw plenty of oak, but had enough fruit density to soak it up. This is a perfectly enjoyable, well-made modern-styled New World wine (it's not jammy or raisiny or hot), but ultimately it's a bit boring.

2004 vintage

Opaque purple. Full bodied and viscous. Generous and fairly pure signature Malbec blackberry fruit, with a prominent but not overpowering dose of oak. Fairly tannic, would benefit from more acid. Excellent mouthfeel. Ripe and modern but not over-the-top.

2004 vintage

BYO (Le Sommelier) : Nose: Dark plum but a bit to much alcohol showing. Palate: Super intensity, dark sweet plums with a solid and impressive acidity. A very pronounced minerality is very intriguing. Great wine.

2004 vintage

Double Blind Tasting at Kevin's (Kevin's House) : A wow wine! Decanted only 30 minutes which is more than enough time. Extremely aromatic nose of blueberries, blackberries, spice and pepper. Over time the palate changed and revealed some white pepper and cranberry notes. Long finish and concentrated wine. A true elite wine from South America. Drinking window within 3 to 5 years. Day 2: I would not leave any til day 2 as it is good but not even close …

2004 vintage

Double Blind Mini Offline (Rocknroller's (Kevin's)) : Purple color. Nose shows blackberry, plum, a nice floral element, spices. Palate is dense, black fruits, good acidity, spice, medium long finish. nicely balanced. WOTN for me and group.

2004 vintage

Double Blind Tasting at Kevin's (Kevin's House) : Nose: Road tar, dark fruits and floral notes with some glass air. Palate: Tar on the front palate with black fruits, big spice, and a medium to long finish. Just an awesome wine with a stunning nose. Clearly my WOTN by far. Thanks John for bringing this beauty!

2004 vintage

2 hour decant. Still tart and tannic. In blind tasting there was bright red fruit (strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb) and sharp tannin that began to soften and evve after 1 hour in the glass. Outstanding and needing about 5 years. Really unlke most malbecs I have had but feel Igor is just backward and need of more time

2004 vintage

Minneapolis Wine Club South America (Gail's House) : Blackberries, cranberry, spices and coffee on the nose. The palate displays good concentration and the wine is balanced. Drinking well right now but I could see 10 plus years of improvement. Second tasting of this wine and impressed again.

2004 vintage

Really nice wine, intense fuit,

2004 vintage

Dark purple. Very elegant nose with coffee, cranberries, boysenberries, and spices. On the palate this has come around on day 2 with coffee, boysenberries, raspberries, minerals and a vary of spices. Medium finish and balanced. On the finish a nice pepper quality is revealed. Great wine!

2004 vintage

Achaval-Ferrer 2004 Malbecs : Good fruit and earth on the nose which translated to a mouthcoating complex palate of blackberries and blueberries. This had a full body with tannins present but are integrating well. Long finish goes on and on. When side by side with the other single vineyards this had just that little extra on the palate and hung in there longer on the finish. My WOTN. Great future ahead

2004 vintage

Achaval-Ferrer 2004 Malbecs : Great Malbec nose with that darkish red fruit. Had a hint of sharpness on the entry to the palate which dissipated into full bodied chocolate-raspberry taste that lasted. Tannins are moderate. The group's favorite but the green flash up front downgraded it for me. Will see if that settles down with a couple more years in the bottle.

2004 vintage

Achaval Ferrer Tasting w/ Manuel Ferrer (K&L Wines, Redwood City, California) : Opaque black violet color with red violet meniscus; lovely berry, lavender, tart plum, caramel, charcoal, sage nose; tart black fruit, tart berry, currant palate with a sense of menthol; medium-plus finish 92+ pts.

2004 vintage

Big, old world monster. Still plenty of tannin to hold on. This had a aways to go, in my opinion.

2004 vintage

Hmmm, there is not doubt that this is a big wine. Its definitely ripe, but at the same time I get a funny greeness, almost like green olives. The palate is great, showing some depth as well as some serious structure. Going to save the next bottle to see what happens.

2004 vintage

lots of plums and blueberries...reminiscent of an aussie shiraz. decent acidity to back it up, though. actually a more pleasureable wine than the penfolds grange i had recently...perhaps this is more suited to drink in the near term...

2004 vintage

One of the inkiest looking wines I've ever seen. Big nose of smoky beef, blackberries, black coal and spices. The wine has an incredibly smooth texture and finishes plush but at the same time tannic. This is serious, intense and complex juice that really shows off the iron fist of Malbec but also manages to remain elegant and taste delicious. Young, inky and impossible to stop drinking - this is easily the best Malbec I've ever tasted.

2004 vintage

Decanted for over an hour. Brilliant fruit. Blackberry, rasberry. Intergrated tannis.

2004 vintage

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Achaval Ferrer, Finca Bella Vista, Mendoza

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