Pascual Toso produces a great line of wines in the Mendoza region of Argentina, in the foothills of the Andes and at high elevation. We reviewed a range of their wines several years ago, which you can read more about here. That tasting was with Felipe Stahlschmidt, winemaker at Pascual Toso. It was also the first time I had the chance to try one of their flagship wines, the Magdalena Toso Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon blend. The wine is blended from the best quality grapes, by consultant Paul Hobbs, and it blew me away with incredible complexity, balance and fruit. It was a “good as it gets” kind of wine. Not inexpensive to be sure, this wine is none the less world class and an experience. It’s also not crazy expensive. Don’t think First Growth Bordeaux kind of prices, or cult California Cabernet. It’s just north of $100.
We recently had the 2018 vintage of Magdalena Toso in for review, and I was quite excited to try it. Let’s see what was in the bottle.
Wine: 2018 Pascual Toso “Magdalena Toso”
Winery Location: Maipu District, Mendoza, Argentina
Tasted By: Neil & Cheri Date: November 2021
Tasting Notes: – The grapes come from Pascual Toso’s Barrancas Vineyards. Only the best quality fruit is used, picked by hand into small containers to protect the grapes. Fermentation lasted ten days, and then the fruit macerated for another fifteen. Aging spanned 18 months in new French oak. They also age the wine an additional year in bottle prior to release. Produced in limited quantity, only 26 barrels were made from this vintage. The blend is 67% Malbec and 33% Cabernet Sauvignon.
As you might expect, the color is a deep, rich purple red, and opaque. On the nose, waves of fruit
come at you, more black than red and plum and blackberry are prominent. Then you get caramel, wood, herbs and some floral notes. It is very complex. It is also big, full bodied and pretty tannic right now. This is a baby. The wine finishes super long. There’s enough acid to keep it fresh and it should age effortlessly for a decade or more. Wow, this is good. If you like full bodied reds with nuance and elegance, this is a great choice for you. I would decant for an hour right now.
Price Point – SRP of $129.99
Would We Buy It? – if we spent more than $100 on a bottle we would. This is a spectacular wine.
As indicated above, we think this is a world class red wine that can stand up to just about anything. If you’re looking for a special bottle for the holidays, this is a great choice. Better yet buy two and put one away. If you come back to it in five years it will be amazing.
They are doing great things at Pascual Toso.
A votre santé!
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