Herve and Diane Fabre

There are certain varieties, certain places in the world, where old, gnarly, thick-trunked vines catapult wines to the top echelon of an appellation. It’s true in Chateauneuf. With red Burgundy. Zinfandel. But there may be no place and variety where old vines separate great bottles from the mundane more than the Malbec of Mendoza, Argentina. While much of the hubbub over Argentine Malbec is the stuff of short-lived fads, the very best wines, made from tiny-yielding, century-old plantings, none of them far from town, are truly superb and rank among the most intriguing wines of the New World.

But few of the Argentine bottlings that are flooding American shelves are made from these old-vine treasure chests. There are plenty of colorful Madison Avenue labels, but all too few truly distinguished wines. If you find one, you’ll want to scream from the rafters; when Argentine Malbec is as concentrated as this 100-year old-vine Fabre Montmayou Gran Reserva, it rivals the top 2007 southern Rhone wines for the Best Red Wine Values on the American market.

This sensational, black, sumptuous 2007 Malbec beauty comes from Herve Fabre, a Bordeaux emigre, who was one of the first to realize the potential of the old vines of Mendoza. Made from 100-year-old Malbec vines, all purchased by Herve in 1990, this is a purple-fruit powerhouse, with a superb red- and cassis-fruit kernel and length that speaks more of Pauillac than Mendoza.

Why do the old vines matter so much? We posed this question to Herve and to Stephane Gallet, the geologist-winemaker in Maury, whose Roc des Anges bottling wowed so many of you. The answers were much the same, and equally striking. Stephane works with ancient-vine Carignan and Grenache — all head-trained vines like Herve’s in Mendoza. “The vieilles vignes create a sort of underground ecosystem. But, attention, if the farming isn’t sustainable, or even better, organic, they do nothing for you.” Studying the root system of old vines reveals that, as the roots spread, they attract clay. The clay retains the water of winter and spring, nourishing the roots and allowing them to spider further underground, extracting minerality and pumping it into the vines and grapes. “So,” Herve explained, “these 100-year-old vines not only find the water, but they create an environment to retain it! Then they infuse the Malbec with the minerality of our stone and the finesse of sand. C’est assez incroyable.”

Tasting Notes

“Opaque purple-colored, the 2007 Malbec Gran Riserva delivers an expressive perfume of pain grille, mineral, scorched earth, violets, and black cherry. On the palate it is medium to full-bodied with layers of savory dark fruit, ripe tannin, excellent balance, and an elegant personality. Give this outstanding effort 2-3 years in the cellar and enjoy it from 2011 to 2023.”
92 points–Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate