Achaval Ferrer Finca Mirador 2014

Big aromas of blackberry, leather, turned earth and white mushroom set up a bright, layered palate with fresh acidity at its core. Floral, exotic red-berry flavors are spicy and in sync with each other. A crisp, peppery finish with toasty oak ensures that this single-vineyard Malbec is built to last. Drink through 2025.

(14.5% alcohol; 14 hectoliters per hectare produced; from vines in excess of 70 years old; aged for 13 months in new French oak; all three of these single-vineyard wines did their malolactic fermentation in oak): Bright medium ruby. A bit blacker as well as more floral and medicinal than the Bella Vista, offering scents of blackberry, boysenberry, black cherry, violet and spices; conveys a crushed-fruit urgency as well as a touch of reduction. At once penetrating and seamless; less pliant and open to inspection than the Belle Vista, with its acidity more apparent today. But there's still plenty of flavor intensity here for the future. A more medicinal, reserved, even clenched style--the least accessible of this trio today--but still without any rough edges. Finishes with smooth tannins and lovely aromatic lift.

An elegant style, with supple flavors of cherry pie and plum tart that blend easily. Juniper berry notes extend on the ripe finish, offering plenty of Asian spice details. Drink now through 2021. 1,100 cases made.