PerSe
La Craie2017
MendozaArgentina
£140.00
PerSe
La Craie2017
MendozaArgentina
£140.00
- Red
- 75cl
- Cabernet FrancMalbec
- Sustainable
- 14.5%
Grown on 1450m high south-facing slops on the Alabanza hill, inside the beautiful Gualtallary Monastery, this wine is a stunning representation of the limestone soils of which the grapes are sourced.
Expressive and bright, this blend of Malbec and Cabernet Franc glows with wildflowers and fine minerality, all underpinned with a complex depth and earthiness. A stunning example of why PerSe are getting so much attention.
Only 880 bottles were produced this vintage, of which few remain.
The 2017 La Craie also changed sources in 2017, and it is now from a plot of their own vineyards in Gualtallary, from poorer soils that are very shallow. It was produced from a plot next to Iubileus, but the soils are whiter and shallower. Also, this is Malbec with Cabernet Franc, and in 2017 they used more Cabernet Franc than in any of the previous vintages; so, it can represent something around 40%, as in warmer years they like to use more Cabernet Franc. I feel an earthier personality here, darker and perhaps a little riper than Iubileus, with chalkier tannins and a little earthier. 880 bottles produced. I sampled the 2018, of which there should be some 1,500 bottles, and I found it really promising, again better than Iubileus... We'll see next year...
About PerSe
Per Se is a personal project from Edgardo (Edy) del Popolo and David Bonomi, trailblazers on the Argentine wine scene. David is one of the most knowledgeable oenologists in the Uco Valley, with on-the-ground experience from Altamira in the south to Gualtallary in the north.
Edy was practically born under a grapevine: his parents owned vineyards in north Mendoza, he went on to study oenology and agronomy, and when the winery he was working at was sold to the Santa Rita Estates, he became Doña Paula’s first Argentine employee, going on to oversee planting for them across Argentina.
In 2012 Edy and David founded Per Se, a boutique project based in the Uco Valley making fine wines which express their origins as transparently as possible. The terroir they have chosen is Gualtallary, in their opinion the most interesting area within the Uco Valley, as the combination of a cool climate with complex soils is capable of producing extraordinary wines of unmistakable personality.
They have planted their own vineyard at 1,500 metres on the land leased to them by the Monasterio de Gualtallary. Each of their wines comes from a specific section within the vineyard, with a different soil type. These are serious wines with amazing quality for such a young project and showing balance and drinkability even at a young age.