2019 Matias Riccitelli Riccitelli & Father (750ml)

Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina

B-21 Top Recommendation
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Joining forces with his father, one of Argentina's most esteemed enologists, maverick winemaker Matias Riccitelli crafted the outstanding 96 pt. 2019 Matias Riccitelli “Riccitelli & Father” from old vine Malbec with Cabernet Franc, a unique blend offering plush, savory fruit balanced by soft, well-integrated tannins and zesty acidity that Malbec lovers will find hard to resist.

Part of a new generation of winemaking in Argentina, Matias leads the movement towards lower intervention, vineyard driven wines, his portfolio called one of Argentina’s most exciting by the Wine Advocate’s Luis Gutierrez and recently named “Young Winemaker of the Year” by critic Tim Atkin. Matias crafted the 2019 Riccitelli & Father with his dad Jorge, a renowned oenologist and retired head winemaker of Bodega Norton who shares his son’s passion for creating original vineyard-driven blends with old vine Malbec. Sourced from ungrafted, low yielding vines planted in 1927 in the high-altitude Lujan de Cuyo zone, the Malbec was blended with younger mountain grown Cabernet Franc from the Uco Valley and fermented in small oak vats with indigenous yeasts. Matias then aged the powerful 2019 Matias Riccitelli “Riccitelli & Father” in 2,000-liter oak foudres for 16 months before bottling it without filtering or fining, yielding a harmonious “outside the box” blend melding the rich and robustly structured Malbec with the high altitude Cab Franc’s freshness and distinct minerality and yielding aromatic, juicy ripe fruit with elegant tannins on a lingering spiced finish.

Crafting wines of “great precision that explore new and subtle veins of flavor” according to Joaquin Hidalgo of Vinous, the exceptional 96 pt. 2019 Matias Riccitelli “Riccitelli & Father” is a unique, age worthy offering from the cutting-edge winemaker and his renowned enologist father, a seamless and immensely pleasurable blend for fans of powerful Argentinian reds to enjoy now and over the next few years.

96WA

96JS

94V

The very serious, austere and somewhat traditional 2019 Riccitelli & Father is a collaboration between Matías Riccitelli and his father, Jorge, who for many years was the winemaker at Norton (among other things). It's aromatic and floral, with very integrated oak, lower alcohol than in the past (now 14%) and very good acidity. There's ripeness and freshness and also complexity and depth. It's a blend of 70% Malbec with 30% Cabernet Franc that matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres for 16 months. 5,000 bottles were filled in November 2020.

96 points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Nov 2022)

Deep and complex, yet nuanced, offering fragrant black cherries, sour plums and dark chocolate, which follow through to violet extract, dried herbs and hints of graphite and stones. Really juicy, full-bodied and powerful, but seamless and charged with natural concentration. Long, extremely intense and poised. Decant it to discover the dried-herb and black-pepper nuances. So delicious now, but will hold.

96 points, James Suckling (Nov 2022)

The 2019 Malbec - Cabernet Franc Riccitelli And Father is an 80/20 blend of the aforementioned varieties from Las Compuertas, Luján de Cuyo and Los Chacayes, Uco Valley, respectively. Purple in hue. The attractive, unusually reductive nose presents notes of violets, fresh plum, blackberry and hints of bell and black pepper. Free-flowing in the mouth with refined, reactive tannins, the palate is expansive, full bodied and taut but stays light on its feet. The 2019 is an interesting, classical take on a modern blend with good depth and well-defined flavor.

94 points, Joaquín Hidalgo, Vinous (Nov 2022)

Alcohol By Volume: 14.5%

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$59.98

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