Hello everybody and welcome to Wine Library TV. I am your host Gary Vaynerchuk. And this my friends is the Thunder Show, AKA the internet’s most passionate wine program. And we are going to talk about Argentina because who isn’t talking about Argentina in the wine world right now.

Malbec is Pinot Noir 2.0. People are running at it like it’s the Jonas Brothers and ripping their clothes off. I mean, Malbec is ripping hot sales across the board or store the country search terms in Google. This is a varietal that everybody is talking about. We’ve got two.

We’ve also got a Pinot Noir from a producer by the name of Luigi Bosca who is a very big producer in Argentina. And so we’re going to talk a little bit about Argentinean wines. I think it’s a really interesting part of the world that continuously get respect, you know, the high levels for the vineyards, you know, 800, 900 meters above sea level, these are things that definitely create a scenario where wines can be produced, you know, that are going to have more extraction, more complexity, great—

The country in general is positioned to become a bigger and bigger player in the world. The price points are very attractive. The quality is high. The press has been gushing over them. And so—it’s really been a perfect storm in the last five years for Argentina. You’ve had enormous influence of talent. People come in from all over the world, making wine there now, the pubs of the world. Great wine makers from Australia, yes but more or less from France, we’ve seen a lot of big Bordeaux. Players establish up shop in this part of the world. The quality of the food there is interesting. And so in general, it’s become a destination for the world for, you know, epicurious delights, food and wine.

And so, I decided to bring the greatest tag team champions of all time to join me today to drink these wines. I am excited about them; Catena Alta is one the legendary wines in the area. And so let’s get into the first wine, which is Luigi Bosca 2007 Pinot Noir Reserva, 90 points Stephen Tanzer, which is a very big score from Stephen for $15.00, this is 780 meters altitude in Mendoza on the foothills of the Andes mountain, eight months in oak and the big glass is here. And that is exciting always. $15, 90 points Tanzer. Anybody who’s been following wine seriously for a long time knows how big of a score that is from Stephen Tanzer for this Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir becoming such a hot varietal. So, we’ve got hot on hot with Argentina and Pinot Noir, really dark in comparison. It’s the kind of Pinot that sometimes gets me nervous and makes me question if they’re pouring a different varietal in it because it’s so dark.

Let’s give this a sniffy sniff. Yeah. A little bit of earthiness which is great. I get a little bit of a graphite kind of a component coming through in the nose, clearly some cherries busting through, a little bit of sour cherry. A little grainy and earthy, a little bit of that dust coming through; cellar dust that I like. Good nose. Good classic Pinot nose, a little tight for a Pinot Noir nose. Not some of the bacon fat that I love so much or some of the other floral components that I get often but a solid effort on the nose. Let’s give it a whirl—taking the fall, she was always the stronger one. Really good firm tenance, a little big, I mean I would say that if I was tasting this wine, I would not believe that this was 100% Pinot. It’s got a little bit more—you know. I am not you know Sherlock Holmes or Columbo, you know but I would say that this almost feels like there’s—like characteristics in this wine. It’s a big Pinot. It’s got a little bit of a mintiness on the backend which is intriguing, almost Cabernet like. There clearly is some really firm, bright tenance of the backend which do appeal to me. But this wine doesn’t appeal to me overall. You know, it feels like it’s half pregnant. It feels like it’s half Pinot Noir, half Shiraz and acts a little weird for my palate. And I am a little bit disturbed. We’ll give it one more shot.

It would be unfair for me to say that it does have a delicious factor. It does taste good. And so that at the end of the day I guess, you know, there is no reason to be romanced if there’s a blending going on in here. There’s a little bit chocolate coming on the backend now. It’s almost like milk chocolate, like Hershey’s, like Hershey’s bars. We’re stock into the fermenters. The score of this wine 87 points. I think it’s solid. I guess it’s Pinot Noir like but it’s definitely not varietaly, you know, accurate all the way. And it’s a little bit disjointed and just awkward. You’ve heard me talked about the 16-year-old with the big feet and just skinny, like a basketball player. That 6’10’’ but a sophomore you know it’s going to be great in college and play in Division One basketball but right now it’s a little weird because it’s so thin. He hasn’t put on the muscle yet. Got to get and beat the body, got to hit the—and so, just disjointed, awkward, let’s go 87 minus, take that as is Chris. And let’s move on.

Okay, let’s move on. Lamadrid Reserva. Cool package. Lamadrid Reserva 2006 Malbec, cool package! I’m like a little mesmerized. 900 meters above sea level for this one. Héctor Durigutti is the wine maker, Durigutti excuse me, $9.40, 88 points, Jay Miller. It’s $9.40 right now because in the middle of our 26th anniversary sale. And 80 points, Jay Miller. I just rinsed this actually. So, we’re getting into the Malbec, the varietal that definitely is causing the most buzz for these wines. Let’s give it a sniffy sniff. Wow, very floral fake. I mean, just I feel like I am smelling fake flowers and since they don’t give off scent, you could imagine what I am thinking here, clearly floral to an intensity that’s almost weird. Too over the top and it really has like this like ‘Oh my gosh; what is that smell?’ It’s really like for breezy—it’s very chemical. The nose is very chemically made. Every time I smell this, I just think of fake wine. This is going to be sugarfied fruit. I can just feel it.

I didn’t even taste this wine. This tastes like the color purple. This tastes like a purple magic marker. This tastes like paint. It’s very fake to me. This is exactly the style of wine that bothers me. I feel like it’s Frankenstein instead of a human being. It’s cloning. It’s just fake. I don’t like it. This is the wine that pisses me off. It’s so genetically mustard. This is a wine room instead of Vineyard made wine. Just the style bothers me quite a bit and a lot of people like it but it’s kind of just fake. It just doesn’t taste like wine to me. It really doesn’t. I am going to score this wine 77 points on the reason you know. I don’t know why I’m giving it, it made Kris Jenkins paying tribute to the best Jet up for the year. I just don’t like it. It tastes fake. You guys know what I mean, right? Sugarfied. It has no soul, you know, fake boobs and makeup, just nothing there. You look into the eyes and—just gave the interview to—last night, watch it with Lizzy, then she said she look in Chris Brown’s eyes and there wasn’t anybody there.

That is what I feel about this wine. I taste it and I feel like there is nothing there. I feel like it’s been genetically composed like it was written out. I feel like, okay, here’s what we’re going to do, that! I mean just why not let the vineyard speak. This wine doesn’t. It’s just not good. I’m going 71 points. Let’s move on. I’m going to rinse this. I’m being quiet because I am mad. I just don’t want that wine made anymore. I am going 61 points on the last wine.

Catena Alta 2006 from Catena Zapata, one of the great producers in all of Argentina, US$40, 93 points Jay Miller—what it says in the back it was bottled because I think it’s interesting. It says Catena Alta Malbec is source from highly selected state grown vineyards, Angelica Vineyard at 2800 elevation 10%, La Piramide Vineyard, 3100 elevation 6%, Nicasiaoh excuse me Vineyard at 3800 elevation, 30%, Adrianna Vineyard at 4725 elevation, 54% at different altitudes are Melbec Vineyard Express distinctive profiles aromas and flavors. These vineyards are high. We’ve heard 800, 900, these are up the mountain. These are way up there. The vineyards tend to stress more to get the fruit. They work harder. It’s immigrant mentality. And what happens when you get immigrant mentality? You win.

So dark fruit, sniffy sniff. Just a totally, smell this once, interesting. You know black pepper—I think this one is corked. Let me just taste it real quick. Corked, wow, this wine is slightly corked. Let’s just go into corked wine if we can. When you start smelling like a wet cardboard, Mott, show them all the cardboard we’ve got out here, like you know when that stuff right here, there are some cardboard, when you start getting you know—if you, you know, one of the great things you can do for yourself if you’re a wine drinker—this is disappointing is get cardboard and wet it and eat it and smell it. You get this kind of wet paper. It’s bacteria-like. It’s wet paper. You can just smell it. I caught on the tail end, just as I was going away. It’s a little corked, slightly but it’s there. And I tasted it and it kind of just the muted flavors. You don’t taste so much of the fruit. It really does taste like you’re tasting a little bit of like wet paper. And that is quite disappointing. And that kind of ends the show.

Wow, that was a very—that was a bad show. I was mad at the Pinot, right?! I feel like it was kind of not Pinot. Then I will test that wine number two. Wine number three is corked. And so for all the build up Argentina, don’t cry for me Argentina—nothing for nothing. I think I am going to shed a tear for Argentina. This is a one difficult show. Maybe I should cancel my trip in March Mott because they might not have me in because you know what Argentina went—today. Bad show! Bad!

And that’s just the way it ends. Question of the day?! What’s your favorite Madonna song? You! With a little bit of me, that was a lot of me, a little bit of me, we are changing the wine world, weird.