Nieto Senetiner Bonarda 2014
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Its bold flavors make it the perfect pairing for grilled beef, mushroom risotto, or cheese ravioli.
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Wine Spectator
Lithe and rich, with good cut to the dried berry and roasted plum flavors, featuring notes of hot stone. Forest floor accents show on the finish. Drink now through 2019.
Nieto Senetiner is one of Mendoza’s oldest wineries, founded in 1888 when Italian immigrants planted the first vineyards in Vistalba, a sub-region in Mendoza’s primera zona Luján de Cuyo. Since then, Nieto has produced exceptional wines from classic Argentine varietals that thrive in the unique, high altitude terroir of the Andean foothills.
Sourcing fruit from its three long-standing estate vineyards in Luján de Cuyo (Vistalba, Agrelo, and Alto Agrelo) and premier sites in the Uco Valley, today Nieto produces some of Argentina’s most consistently awarded Malbecs.
Nieto’s signature Malbec showcases fruit exclusively from Luján de Cuyo vineyards. Its Don Nicanor wines are produced at the historic winery in Vistalba using fruit selected from sites in Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley to create a more elegant and intense Malbec style.
In addition to its rich heritage, Nieto is investing in the future with sustainable winemaking practices, and under the guidance of a young, innovative winemaking team led by Santiago Mayorga and consultant Paul Hobbs.
Bonarda is a name given to a handful of distinct grape varieties, mainly growing in Italy and in Argentina. In Lombardy’s Oltrepò Pavese and Emilia Romagna’s Colli Piacentini zones, the grape called Bonarda is actually Croatina. In Novara, Bonarda Novarese, often blended with Spanna (Nebbiolo), is actually Uva Rara. DNA profiling shows that most of the Bonarda in Argentina is actually identical to California’s Charbono—and Charbono is actually the Douce Noire grape from Savoie. Somm Secret—Bonarda Piemontese, an aromatic variety, is the only true Bonarda. Before phylloxera, it covered 30% of Piedmontese vineyard acreage.
With vineyards tretching along the eastern side of the Andes Mountains from Patagonia in the south to Salta in the north, Argentina is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic wine producing countries—and most important in South America.
Since the late 20th century vineyard investments, improved winery technology and a commitment to innovation have all contributed to the country’s burgeoning image as a producer of great wines at all price points. The climate here is diverse but generally continental and agreeable, with hot, dry summers and cold snowy winters—a positive, as snow melt from the Andes Mountains is used heavily to irrigate vineyards. Grapes very rarely have any difficulty achieving full ripeness.
Argentina’s famous Mendoza region, responsible for more than 70% of Argentina’s wine production, is further divided into several sub-regions, with Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley most noteworthy. Red wines dominate here, especially Malbec, the country’s star variety, while Chardonnay is the most successful white.
The province of San Juan is best known for blends of Bonarda and Syrah. Torrontés is a specialty of the La Rioja and Salta regions, the latter of which is also responsible for excellent Malbecs grown at very high elevation.