26/11/09
News this week was our Cuvelier tasting dinner on Tuesday evening at Imperial Wharf with Anne Cuvelier, a member of the family that owns deuxieme-cru Chateau Leoville-Poyferre in Bordeaux, as well as the new Cuvelier Los Andes property in Argentina.

Anne Cuvelier is an absolutely charming woman, speaks impeccable English and is a fantastic ambassador for her family's wine business, but the stars of the show were definitely the wines – Domaine de Chevalier Blanc 2004 to start, followed by Leoville-Poyferre 1999 and 2006, then the Argentine Cuvelier Los Andes 'Coleccion' 2006 and 'Grand Vin' 2005 and, finally, an Yquem 1981 to finish.

Los Andes has been garnering some serious praise from the critics, including a 94 Point score from American critic Robert Parker for the Grand Vin in only its third vintage, but I wasn't expecting the wines to show such Bordeaux-like balance and ageworthy structure – actually what was interesting was how alcoholic the Yquem seemed coming after the two incredibly well-balanced Argentine reds!

The Cuvelier Los Andes wines are certainly hefty beasts - and I'm glad I had a good slab of Argentine ribeye to enjoy them with but, with the Grand Vin in particular, the fruit and tannins are so perfectly constructed and well knitted together that the alcohol isn't particularly noticeable.

Anne Cuvelier is convinced that Argentina has the terroir to become a major force in world-class fine wine production and, on the basis of this dinner anyway, I think she's right.