B Goulart Black Legion, Special Blend – Old Vines 2011, Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Tasting Note: This wine proves that red blends from Mendoza have the ability to potentially rival the dominance of single-varietal malbec.

This blends shows slight complexity at the beginning of the taste and takes hold at the back of your mouth. Rather than lead, black fruit in this wine follows in the background and presents as a piece of a coherent flavor whole.

Oak adds another gentle layer of depth that doesn’t overwhelm. This wine is 60% malbec and 40% cabernet franc. You are sampling a true malbec blend.

Bottle Note: Marshall Goulart was the leader of Brazil’s Constitutional Revolution in 1932. In 1915, while living in Mendoza, he purchased 2 separate 15 hectare properties and planted them with malbec and cabernet sauvignon. Many years later in 1988, his granddaughter Erika brought the old vineyards back to life and established a winery in Mendoza to vinify the fruits of their family’s labor.

B Black Legion pays tribute to the volunteer soldiers who fought under Marshal Gaston Goulart during the revolution of 1932. Their bravery and selflessness is still remembered over 80 years later. These grapes are selected from specific old-vine rows located throughout the Lujan de Cuyo. Its deep purple color and intense flavors of black currant, cherry jam, cinnamon, and chocolate yield a complex, yet balanced wine. Further dimension comes from aging in French barrels for 12 months. Produced is limited to 1,000 cases per vintage.