An obscure but sensational red
2005 Landelia Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Alto Agrelo, Argentina (£8.99, Virgin Wines, 0845-543 8864, email
customerservice@virginwines.com
).
This week I am writing about a wine that I know nothing about at all! Rumour has it that Paul Hobbs (a Californian cabernet guru) consults at the property, or at least did at some stage. It certainly seems like there is some magic in the glass.
But if you Google Landelia, very little emerges apart from the fact that a few people clearly like this wine and that the bodega is owned by a Swiss bloke. This lack of info and sparse back catalogue with regard to a wine doesn't happen very often, but it doesn't matter a fig.
At the end of the day, it's the taste that is fundamental to winning a place in this column and Landelia Cabernet has it in spades.
With a stunning, pure blackcurrant nose and a plush, juicy, hearty palate, this wine certainly does what it promises on the label, but beneath the veneer there is a very serious wine waiting to emerge indeed – and it does with a vigorous swirl around a decanter. There are layers and layers of fruit here and complex spice and oak notes, too.
How all of this is done for nine quid is beyond me – this is a sensational wine!
• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year.