Caro

CARO, from CAtena and ROthschild, has a strong Argentine identity, characterized by the Malbec grape, which is given further elegance and complexity through blending with Cabernet Sauvignon. The combination produces a voluptuous, refined wine with a harmonious balance between the wine’s Argentinian identity and its Bordeaux style.

2019

Wine Advocate 94: The serious, balanced and quite complete 2019 Caro was made with 64% Malbec and 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and produced in a classical style. It's a wine with ripeness, Mendoza sun and Bordeaux elegance and subtleness. It feels harmonious and integrated, with 14.5% alcohol and good balancing freshness. It matured in French barriques and 4,200-liter oak foudre for 14 months, which was a shorter élevage and using larger-volume containers to achieve neatly integrated oak. It's complex, clean and elegant, and the palate reveals a velvety texture with juicy fruit and round tannins. 31,400 bottles and 1,280 magnums were produced. It was bottled in October 2021. It's one of the finest vintages of Caro and should develop nicely in bottle.

James Suckling 95: Chocolatey, cedary oak with truffles and tobacco here. While there is a lot of oak to flatter at this stage, it still delivers restraint, bearing and class. Keep smelling and you'll find scented, dark lead pencil, meaty spices, fine blackberries and a hint of tar. Ripe and rich, but nuanced, with more complexity that takes time to fully uncoil. Really silky, precise and polished tannins, loaded with some fruit sweetness on the palate, then extending to the finish that lasts a minute.

Decanter 98: Fresh berries such as blackcurrant, violets, balsamic notes and tobacco combine in the nose. On the palate, it’s harmonious and refined, showcasing good freshness and extremely subtle, fine tannins. The cool summer of 2019 made this vintage one of the best in decades. Caro 2019 is one of the finest incarnations of this Bordeaux-inspired wine, a blend of 64% Malbec with 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in barrels for 18 months. Boasts significant ageing potential; at least 10 years.

2020

James Suckling 94: Deep and ripe nose with plenty of ripe blackberries, cedar and black truffles. A hint of black pepper, too. Plush and generous on the palate with plenty of sweet fruit. Tannins are really tight and compact with a long, focused finish. Has the warm-vintage ripeness but it retains freshness.

Vinous 95: The 2020 Blend Caro is 60% Malbec and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon from Altamira, Gualtallary in Mendoza. It was aged for 18 months in DBR cooperage from Pauillac, 80% in first-use barrels and the rest in 4000-liter foudres. Dark purple in the glass. The nose features cassis and plum notes in a cedar frame, with ash and mint hints. Dry with firm tannins and a juicy flow, the intense mouthfeel and rich palate create a long-lasting, ripe finish. The 2020 is an unusually nuanced wine for a warm vintage.

Decanter 94: Violet-red in the glass, the nose offers ripe black fruit, hints of figs, quince and subtle smoky notes. On the palate, it's opulent and flavourful with compact tannins that lead into a long, persistent finish. Due to the dry, warm summer, the 2020 vintage posed a challenge that Bodegas Caro successfully navigated by incorporating, for the first time, grapes from San Pablo, a cold location at 1,400m above sea levelin the Uco Valley. A blend of 60% Malbec and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, Caro 2020 was aged for 18 months in barrel.