There are plenty of wines which get cerebral review comments, and lengthy descriptions of how complex and different they are. We love complex wines, and can sometimes wax poetic about it (although we do try to avoid that). Sometimes, though, the best descriptive of a wine is simply that it is delicious. Let’s take a look at one of those.
Domaine Bousquet is the child of Jean Bousquet, who looked at the arid and barren landscape in the Gualtallary Valley in Mendoza, Argentina, and somehow saw potential. He saw great potential. Others had failed here, as it is rough terrain, at the highest altitudes in Mendoza suitable for growing anything. It is also basically a desert. The ability of Jean to find water (after two years spent establishing a viable well) made all the difference. Now, his 667 acres under vine produce a series of wines, from premium varietals, Gran Reserves, a high end Malbec blend, sparking wines and a line of blends under the Gaia label. We’re going to talk about one of those today.
There are both white and red Gaia blends, and the red is a good wine. The white, however, is exceptional. Let’s take a closer look.
2016 Domaine Bousquet Gaia White Blend – this is a blend of 50% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Gris and 15% Sauvignon Blanc. All
the grapes are from high altitude vines in Gualtallary, at 4000+ feet. The altitude and cool nights help maintain freshness and acid levels. This is an unusual blend. Our thoughts:
The wine is a light golden color, and carries a rich nose of ripe fruit. It’s a mixture of apple, some tropical, a touch of lemon and even a little banana. On the palate it is a beautiful mouthful of wine from start to finish. The entry is rich, but crisp, and the fruit is clear and always there. The apple dominates, but there are nuances. It has a nice, medium body, some texture and a great acid ridge that keeps it fresh and clean. It is also long. There is one word for this – delicious. It is around $18, and well worth it. We’ll easily add it to our Value List. This is really good.
It’s no secret that the Mendoza region of Argentina produces many world class wines. It’s still exciting to find a new one. We need to try much more of what Domaine Bousquet has to offer.
A votre santé!
[…] reviewed two of their blends, from their Gaia line, earlier – and you can read about them by clicking here. This time we’ll look at two of the sparklers, in particular the ones made using the […]