After several years of experimentation with varying toast levels and various barrel producers, Susana Balbo has created a Torrontés that takes this varietal into a whole new sphere of influence. The exuberant floral and fruity notes that we know and love have become delicately muted and are complemented with the most ethereal and subtle oak influences. Although still distinctly Torrontés, this actually noses a little like a great Viognier, dare we say it something akin to Condrieu from a very good vintage?

In each of the three ranges from this winery - Serbal, Catalpa and Atamisque - there is a blend, an assemblage. Catalpa Assemblage is comprised of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec in varying proportions depending on the vintage. 60% of this wine is aged for 12 months in new French oak barrels, 40% in stainless steel prior to blending and a further 6 months in bottle prior to release. Crafted in a fairly extravagant style this is a lovely, plump, velvet textured delight with clever use of oak in evidence, capable of developing very nicely for 8 - 10 years.

Deep ruby red in colour, lovely aromas of plums and sweet red berries, silky-textured in the mouth with incredible length. Elegant yet intense, fresh, complex, superbly balanced and, best of all, very moreish.

This is the flag-bearing Malbec from Bodega Atamisque, a winery that has come from nowhere in recent years to gain real respect and admiration from its peers, and no wonder with wines like this on show. Winemaker Philippe Caraguel has triumphed with this wine, which is so good and consistently good from vintage to vintage, perhaps due in part to the vines being 100% owned and managed by Atamisque. We sell much more of this, not inexpensive Malbec, to the UK trade than we do many others at significantly lower prices. Excellent is the word.

From a high quality, old vine block in higher Agrelo, this is a serious expression of Malbec which is characterised by its rocky terroir and small batch wine making. Award winning Malbec from Argentinean specialists of this native grape. High altitude, single vineyard quality that is truly of place.

Mineral in character with a note of graphite and subtle hints of black fruits, berries and blueberries. A floral finish with rosehips, and vanilla and tobacco notes provided by French Oak barrel aging. Sweet and silky tannins; truly a wine whose structure and acidity unite in the mouth. Superb.

This is an amazing thing. Top quality Malbec grapes are left on the vines after harvest for a period of up to 3 months. Over this time they shrivel up like raisins and the juice becomes very, very concentrated and sweet. The natural syrupy juice takes an age to ferment and once it has, the wine is aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels. The end result is a top-end Malbec that is 100% naturally sweet; sweet but not 'sticky', and the tannins are still there to provide staunch structure and see the wine through subsequent years of bottle age. A wonderul oddity.