2021 Montesco "Agua de Roca" Sauvignon Blanc San Pablo - Uco Valley
SKU #1685586
95 points
Tim Atkin
If Argentina has a Sauvignon Blanc specialist, then it is Matías Michelini, who seems to have
a personal bond with the variety. Pithy, taut and focused, this remarkable, low-alcohol white
comes from an island in the middle of the Las Tunas River and is wonderfully saline and
refreshing. Long, chiselled and defiantly unwooded. 2022-31
94 points
Descorchados
This Agua de Roca is now in its tenth vintage since it burst onto the scene in 2011 with an idea for a sauvignon that would interpret a place like San Pablo, more than 1,400 meters above sea level in the Uco Valley. There's the altitude, but there's also the stony and calcareous soil that gives it mineral rather than fruity flavors, and therefore gives rise to its name, because it seems to have been made from stones rather than fruit. It is an austere, refreshing, tense and vertical wine. In a cold season like 2021, that sensation seems to be underscored.
(12/2022)
94 points
Wine Advocate
94+ points "A favorite of mine is the 2021 Montesco Agua de Roca, a sharp Sauvignon Blanc that feels like liquid granite—it's sharp and electric, with 11.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity. This is completely unoaked: it ferments and matures in concrete. This is the 10th vintage for this wine, from the vineyard in San Pablo, and he considers 2021 the finest vintage he has seen for both whites and reds; 2021 was a cool vintage with a paused harvest and very expressive, clean and pure wines from the fermentation. This has the stony character of this wine, with good ripeness, an electric mouthfeel and a salty finish. This comes from three different harvests of the same plot and matured exclusively in concrete. This is in line with 2013, 2016 and 2019 but with more ripeness and overall balance. Salty, very salty. He didn't make the wine in 2018 because of hail. 4,000 bottles were filled in September 2021." (LG)
(11/2022)
K&L Notes
This is the brainchild of Matias Michelini. He is the winemaker, agronomist and Grand Poobah of his winery named Passionate Wines. Matias strives to make experimental wines that express terroir. These wines are low production and are drawn from multiple inspirations, regions, and styles. Biodynamically grown Sauvignon Blanc from high elevation calcerous soils. The wine is fermented in Stainless steel and Concrete then aged for a year in concrete eggs. This is a dynamic expression of a classic that varietal, it is unmistakeably Sauvignon Blanc but it is unlike any Sauvignon Blanc you have had before. The pronouced minerality plays with the clean ripe fruit and just a whisper of grass there is just enough texture and body to keep the wine from being too sharp.
