Bodega Tapiz Las Notas de Jean Claude (Right Bank Blend) 2018 Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina 75cl

Las Notas de Jean Claude is Bodega Tapiz’s tribute to a Bordeaux legend. Jean-Claude Berrouet, who guided Chateau Petrus through more than forty vintages, joined the estate to work with its high vineyards in San Pablo, deep in the Uco Valley, and this wine bears his name and his Right Bank signature.

It is the softer, Merlot-led half of his Tapiz partnership, a Right Bank blend built around Merlot with Cabernet Franc, a little Cabernet Sauvignon and a whisper of Petit Verdot. The fruit grows well above 1,300 metres, where cool Andean nights hold freshness and detail in a wine of real polish.

The 2018 is a serious, age-worthy release. We hold limited detail on the season here, so we let the wine and its pedigree speak rather than invent a vintage story. It drinks well now with air, and has the balance to develop over several years.

It leans on elegance over force: ripe red and darker berry fruit, a supple, rounded texture and fine-grained tannins in the Right Bank mould. There is a quiet sense of place in its freshness, the mark of high-altitude fruit and a careful, Bordeaux-trained hand.

A benchmark bottle for lovers of Merlot-led blends and Bordeaux structure, carried by one of the great names in modern winemaking. Decant an hour ahead, serve at around 17 degrees, and pair with roast lamb, duck or a mature hard cheese. If you enjoy the softer, Merlot-led wines of Pomerol or Saint-Emilion, this is a natural, sunlit cousin from the Andes, and a fine way to meet Berrouet’s hand on your own table.