Enrique Foster Limited Edition Malbec 2003
Bodega
Range
Wine
Vintage
Origin
Price
Appearance
Dense dark violet-hued red.
Nose
Fresh red and sweet black cherries and spicy plum jelly. Black and white pepper, vanilla, cinnamon and cloves. Herbs as well - dried rosemary - and black olives. Some traces of sweet fresh wood shavings, and once opened, generous notes of milk chocolate.
Palate
Medium-full bodied. Big, round, warm, concentrated and rich plum and blackberry jelly laced with herbs and spices and drizzled with cherry liqueur. Well-balanced acidity with a distinct herbaceousness of rosemary, thyme and black olives. Tannins are ample but soft and supple. The finish is long and the dry tannins and herbaceous acidity are matched by a gentle vanilla sweetness.
Overall
This is Malbec specialist Enrique Foster's next step up over the Reserva. The style is unmistakable and the two wines share a lot in common - this Limited Edition is kind of like the Reserva only more so. It's better balanced though - the acidity is better, and the impression of herbs and spices is wonderfully complex, with an almost Cajun-like quality to the mix. Some of that green complexity cooks off the nose after a time, leaving a rather different but still attractive mild chocolatey character. But the palate remains deep and intriguing throughout its development in the glass. It's twice the price of the Reserva however - the question is whether it's twice as good. Probably not quite. At 95 pesos it would be excellent value but 120 is a bit of a stretch. Justifiable on the odd occasion for a splurge on a very big, classy and complex Malbec.
****
(March 07)