We’ve reviewed many wines from Domaine Bousquet over the past few years. Mendoza, in Argentina, is a world class wine producing area known widely for its quality and value. Standing at the feet of the Andes, this is a land of high altitude vineyards and low rainfall, lying in the rain shadow of the moutnains. Runoff from the Andes melting snows is a critical part of the ecosystem.
The Domaine Bousquet winery, located in the Gualtallary Valley, in the Tupungato District of Mendoza, produces a wide range of organic wines from classic international varietals. They are an organic winery committed to sustainability. Originally from southern France, Jean Bousquet came here in 1990 and the rest is history. Today, the company is wholly owned by Jean’s daughter Anne and her husband, Labid al Ameri. Production has grown to over five million bottles per year from almost 600 acres of vineyards. Most of that, 95%, is exported around the world.
You’ll find the various wines from Domaine Bouquet to be very affordable, and they have garnered many high scores and positive reviews from the the major wine critics. Chances are you’ll find them on the shelf of your local wine shop. The wines we have here for review come from their flagship line, Ameri, named after co-owner Labid al Ameri. Ameri is made only in exceptional years, from the best clusters in a single vineyard. The vineyard is the highest in elevation on all the Bousquet property. The daily temperature swings here are huge, which allows the grapes to achieve full ripeness without sacrificing acid, resulting in beautifully balanced wines of depth and freshness. There are five wines in the line: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and then a blend of the four. Let’s take a look at the two we have.
2020 Ameri Organic Red Blend: Grapes are manually harvested over two months, handled with care
throughout. Fermentation occurs over two weeks with a further 20 day maceration in oak barrels, then it is racked and aged 12 months in French oak. The wine is a blend of 60% Malbec, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah and 10% Merlot. Alcohol is 14.5%. Our impressions:
This is a dark purple wine, with a nose of very ripe berries, a little cherry and some richer fruits such as fig. There’s a bit of a ruby port character to the nose at first. You can add in some spice from the Syrah. On the palate the juice is full bodied, rich and generous, but also balanced beautifully with nice acid. Tannins are medium+ and well integrated, especially with a little air time. The finish is very long and this is really a top shelf wine. I loved it, as did Cheri. Throw in a $37 SRP and you’ve got a pretty outstanding value here.
2020 Ameri Organic Malbec: This is essentially made with the same process as the blend above. What did we think?
One of the single varietal wines from the Ameri line, this is dark purple juice with a nose filled with dark berries and
floral notes. The classic violets of Malbec are on full display. You do get a little heat right out of the bottle, although the alcohol here is also 14.5% and not too high. Tannins are medium with excellent balance and refreshing acid. It is full bodied, very long and also quite smooth. Let it open for a bit and it melds together into a gorgeous wine. This is high end Malbec, but with an SRP of $37. Great value.
If you like to drink great wine at really good wine prices (which we certainly do), then these are for you. We can only imagine the other three wines in the line offer the same high quality to price ratio. That seems like something we should investigate!
A votre santé!
Leave a Reply