Grand Cru Tasting Group (Perth) – South American wines 19 November 2025
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2025 4:38 pm
G’day
A few of the usual suspects descended on the wonderful Lulu’s Little Bistro for our monthly Grand Cru tasting. This month, it was wines from South America – red, white and no other restrictions apart from being from somewhere on the South American continent. Mark and the team at Lulu’s provided their usual excellent standard of food and service to accompany the tasting.
South American wines aren’t always in plentiful supply in Perth, and only three countries were represented. We also only saw one white wine in the tasting – the Garzon Albarino Reserva 2023 from Uruguay. It’s a moderate yellow in colour, with quite a floral nose (especially honeysuckle), beeswax and sea spray. The palate is slightly savoury, with more sea spray, and there’s a waxy viscosity to the wine. Medium acid and moderate length. Enjoyable without being overly heavy or demanding.
Not surprisingly, the remaining wines were reds, with a range of grape varieties. Unfortunately, the cork gods struck twice, so those wines are not recorded. All of the wines were straight varietals – no blends.
Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (Valle De Colchaqua, Chile). Ruby / crimson colour. The nose shows some mint, tart red plums, green capsicum and some meaty and dusty notes. One taster reckoned it was like ‘walking into a dry dusty field’. The palate has milk chocolate, brambles, medium acid and dusty, drying tannins. Medium length.
Garzon Tannat 2022 (Uruguay): We actually had two bottles of the same wine (they are tasted blind) and the results were slightly different (the joys of cork?). Crimson purple in colour. Red, blue and black fruits on the nose, a little Christmas cake, balsamic vinegar (in a good way), and some clay or earthiness. Blueberry cam to the fore on the palate, with milk chocolate, and a little redcurrant. Tannins are fine and a little chewy, and acid is moderate without being too soft. A velvet texture leading to a moderate finish. Reasonably well regarded by the group.
Terranoble ‘Civis’ Carmenere 2022 (Valle De Colchaqua, Chile). Crimson colour. Dark and red plums on the nose, with tobacco, some earthiness, brambles and one taster noted bacon. The palate is quite juicy, with raspberries, redcurrant, more earth and tobacco and some savoury notes. Acid is slightly sharp and tannins are fine and drying. There’s also a leather texture across the tongue, and a medium finish. Well regarded by the group.
Biachi Malbec 2019 (Mendoza, Argentina, 15% alc): Purple colour. The dusty nose shows considerable depth, with mint or menthol, Christmas cake, blueberries and dark plums. Initially the palate was a little medicinal, but this changed with time in the glass to reveal juicy red fruits, sour cherry and milk chocolate. Soft acid and moderate unobtrusive tannins led to a medium finish with a very slightly astringent aftertaste. Highly regarded by the group.
Altos ‘Las Hornigas’ Malbec 2018 (Mendoza, Argentina, 13.5% alc): Purple colour. Lifted but unripe plummy fruit and redcurrant on the nose. The palate is fruit-forward with juicy red and dark plums, again slightly green and unripe. Soft acid, dusty moderate tannins and moderate length only. A fairly simple wine.
Wine of the night was the Biachi Malbec 2019. Our thanks to Mark, Brad and Hayley at Lulu’s Little Bistro for hosting us to their usual excellent standard.
Cheers
Allan
A few of the usual suspects descended on the wonderful Lulu’s Little Bistro for our monthly Grand Cru tasting. This month, it was wines from South America – red, white and no other restrictions apart from being from somewhere on the South American continent. Mark and the team at Lulu’s provided their usual excellent standard of food and service to accompany the tasting.
South American wines aren’t always in plentiful supply in Perth, and only three countries were represented. We also only saw one white wine in the tasting – the Garzon Albarino Reserva 2023 from Uruguay. It’s a moderate yellow in colour, with quite a floral nose (especially honeysuckle), beeswax and sea spray. The palate is slightly savoury, with more sea spray, and there’s a waxy viscosity to the wine. Medium acid and moderate length. Enjoyable without being overly heavy or demanding.
Not surprisingly, the remaining wines were reds, with a range of grape varieties. Unfortunately, the cork gods struck twice, so those wines are not recorded. All of the wines were straight varietals – no blends.
Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 (Valle De Colchaqua, Chile). Ruby / crimson colour. The nose shows some mint, tart red plums, green capsicum and some meaty and dusty notes. One taster reckoned it was like ‘walking into a dry dusty field’. The palate has milk chocolate, brambles, medium acid and dusty, drying tannins. Medium length.
Garzon Tannat 2022 (Uruguay): We actually had two bottles of the same wine (they are tasted blind) and the results were slightly different (the joys of cork?). Crimson purple in colour. Red, blue and black fruits on the nose, a little Christmas cake, balsamic vinegar (in a good way), and some clay or earthiness. Blueberry cam to the fore on the palate, with milk chocolate, and a little redcurrant. Tannins are fine and a little chewy, and acid is moderate without being too soft. A velvet texture leading to a moderate finish. Reasonably well regarded by the group.
Terranoble ‘Civis’ Carmenere 2022 (Valle De Colchaqua, Chile). Crimson colour. Dark and red plums on the nose, with tobacco, some earthiness, brambles and one taster noted bacon. The palate is quite juicy, with raspberries, redcurrant, more earth and tobacco and some savoury notes. Acid is slightly sharp and tannins are fine and drying. There’s also a leather texture across the tongue, and a medium finish. Well regarded by the group.
Biachi Malbec 2019 (Mendoza, Argentina, 15% alc): Purple colour. The dusty nose shows considerable depth, with mint or menthol, Christmas cake, blueberries and dark plums. Initially the palate was a little medicinal, but this changed with time in the glass to reveal juicy red fruits, sour cherry and milk chocolate. Soft acid and moderate unobtrusive tannins led to a medium finish with a very slightly astringent aftertaste. Highly regarded by the group.
Altos ‘Las Hornigas’ Malbec 2018 (Mendoza, Argentina, 13.5% alc): Purple colour. Lifted but unripe plummy fruit and redcurrant on the nose. The palate is fruit-forward with juicy red and dark plums, again slightly green and unripe. Soft acid, dusty moderate tannins and moderate length only. A fairly simple wine.
Wine of the night was the Biachi Malbec 2019. Our thanks to Mark, Brad and Hayley at Lulu’s Little Bistro for hosting us to their usual excellent standard.
Cheers
Allan