Martino Wines Bonarda 2025 750mL

ARGENTINA : MENDOZA : LUJAN DE CUYO

SUSTAINABLE : Bonarda

MED-BODIED, BLACK CHERRY, RIPE PLUM, COCOA, VIOLETS, NEUTRAL OAK

Bonarda is the second most planted red grape in Argentina and almost nobody outside the country can name it. It ripens late, holds its acidity, and gives dark fruit with softer tannin than Malbec, which is exactly why it lands better on a Tuesday.

Hugo Martino bought into Agrelo in 2002 for one block of ungrafted 1926 vines, then built a winery in Mayor Drummond that now works across Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley. Tuscan consultant Attilio Pagli has overseen the cellar since 2013, and the house style is deliberately old-school — cigar box and coffee under the fruit rather than a wall of new oak.

This one comes off sandy, stony ground at Ugarteche, ferments on native yeast after a 48-hour cold soak, and spends twelve months in second- and third-fill French barrels. Seasoned wood, so the cocoa and violet notes are the grape talking. James Suckling gave the 2022 92 points.

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