Last week I had the pleasure of attending an intimate wine tasting and introduction to Top Wines’s newest addition to their already stirling wine selection. Aside from bringing in some good wines, they’re also a really nice group of people AND they organize almost monthly events like this and other wine dinners, which I have had the pleasure of attending beforehand.
Anyway, this tasting was to introduce Dominio del Plata, a relatively large-sized brand hailing from Argentina. The set-up: pretty formal and guided by the regional brand ambassador, Mr. Julien Bonnard. We would be tasting 4 labels from the famed winemaker Susana Balbo.
First wine up was the Crios Torrontes (2011 vintage, $40 per bottle). A light wine, it had a potent grapefruit and elderflower aroma to it and a strong, long finish, if a bit tart. Generally a pleasant wine. Decent value for money.
Next up was the first of three reds, the 2010 Crios Malbec weighing in at $44. A medium bodied wine, certainly not a heavy hitter, and if i’m totally honest, for $44 you don’t really get bang for your buck. It’s a fruit-forward and would be great for a BBQ.
Ok, third wine, also a Malbec, for me this was the best overall wine of the night, the Susana Balbo 2009 at $64 retail, it’s a little pricey but it’s a quality wine and lot more complex than the previous Malbec. It very much had an old-world feel to it, with a lot more subtlety than the first red. A worthy wine.
On to the final wine, the Nosotros. Well to put it simply – absolutely fabulous but totally out of my budget! This is without a doubt one of the best wines I have had coming out of Argentina. A Single-vineyard wine, beautifully complex and with superb structure and flavour. It’s simply a TOP WINE…..but at $264 a bottle retail…it’s not going to make it into my wine fridge…at least not for a few years anyway!
Right – general thoughts on the night…Whilst being very education about the winery and Argentinian wine as a whole (you can tell that Julien is really passionate), the whole tasting was very lengthly, and unlike previous events I’ve been to with Top Wines, the tasting portions were pretty minimal. I did have some wonderful company for the tasting however 
.
Top Wines Retail Outlet is located at 33 Temberling Rd (Joo Chiat).
______________________________
Written by The City Nomad