2018 PerSe Inseparable Malbec Gualtallary Mendoza

Inseparable is a new wine from the dynamic duo of Edy Del Popolo and David Bonomi, aimed at a less exclusive end of the market than their other wines. Picked a little later than the other Per Se wines for more texture, weight and immediacy, it's soft and silky with a touch of wood spice and a lovely interplay between raspberry and black cherry flavours.

Fans of Edgardo Del Pópolo and David Bonomi's limited- production PerSe wines will welcome this new addition to the portfolio - with 10,800 bottles made it has by far the highest availability of any of their cuvees. The Malbec used to make Inseparable comes from Monasterio, a tiny, prestigious sub-region of remote Gualtallary in Uco Valley. Hand-picked, fermented in concrete and aged for 14 months in neutral French oak, this is a lifted and refined style of Malbec. Savoury aromas on the nose, with intense cassis, notes of cherries, spice and violets. Tightly coiled black fruit and fine-grained tannins on the palate, opening into intense black berry fruit, with juicy cherry notes, spice and savoury/gamey undertones, but with lovely freshness and a mineral backbone. From what Del Pópolo describes as 'a classic Mendoza vintage - warm and dry', this is an impressive inaugural vintage.

The new red 2018 Inseparable was produced with Malbec from the heart of Gualtallary Monasterio above 1,400 meters in altitude, planted over one of the chalkiest and poorest soils within the Valle de Uco. The hand-picked grapes were destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in 3,000-liter concrete vats, and the wine was racked into neutral French oak barrels, where it matured for 14 months. This is the more approachable and immediate of the wines, a good introduction to their portfolio, a very young and tender wine that is still serious. In 2018, the grapes from the lower part of the vineyard were harvested last, and the grapes had a slower ripening, a classical Gualtallary with some 30 to 40 centimeters of sand where the plants deliver slightly higher yields. Despite 2018 being a warmish vintage, the wine does not show any heat and feels very pure and floral with some notes of fresh herbs, red rather than dark fruit and an earthy twist. The palate reveals a velvety texture and round tannins with citrus freshness (blood orange) and a long and stony finish. This is elegant and balanced, delicious and with potential to develop in bottle. But it's hard to resist...