Home Winners > Winners 2018 > NEW WORLD: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Bordeaux Blends: Rest of the New World

Winner Details

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Bordeaux-style blends, Rest of the New World

2018 Gold 0      Silver 1      Bronze 2      Commended 1
2017 Gold 2      Silver 6      Bronze 2      Commended 6

OK, so maybe there were only two serious New World countries left for this section – Argentina and New Zealand – and neither of them is exactly famed for their work with Bordeaux red varieties. But this was still a disappointment. Entry numbers were low and the hit rate dreadfully unimpressive.

Last year we saw 16 awards in this section, with 10 medals – two of them Gold. This year, hardly anything. It’s all the more puzzling because winemakers in New Zealand and Argentina repeatedly tell us that they’re desperate to prove that there’s more to their red offering than Pinot Noir/Malbec. But the feeble effort here suggests neither has the confidence in what they’re making.

And perhaps they’re right. We hope not.

FROM THE TASTING TEAMS

‘You can’t really compare with Bordeaux. I was impressed with some of the Argentinean wines, and Washington.’ Yohann Pinol, Wiltons

‘If you’re going to spend £30 on a Bordeaux blend you might be looking outside Argentina.’ Piers Gibson-Birch, Wernher Restaurant at Luton Hoo Hotel

Award winners

Found 4 wines

New World: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Bordeaux Blends: Rest of the New World

Matias Riccitelli, Old Vines from Patagonia, Merlot 2015, Patagonia, Argentina

Silver medal winner

‘A very Argentine nose, with blackcurrant and some violets, leading to a complex, long finish,’ began team leader Jade Koch, adding praise for its ‘freshness, good weight and length’, while Gabriele Galuppo of Theo Randall at the InterContinental enjoyed ‘rich complexity of fruit, with a smoky, toasty note, too’.

£28.51 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Cadus, Appellation Tupungato, Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

Bronze medal winner

‘A rich and opulent wine, with some nice red berry aromas, and a good finish,’ thought Yohann Pinol of Wiltons, while team leader Jade Koch described it as ‘oily and waxy, not to mention savoury, and quite drying, too’.

£10.70 Boutinot

Sacred Hill, Reserve, Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon 2016, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Bronze medal winner

‘Easy to drink’ was the way Gabriele Galuppo of Theo Randall at the InterContinental described this red blend, while Yohann Pinol of Wiltons added that he found it ‘well structured, with silky tannins and complexity, and ripe red berry flavours’.

£7.49 The Drinks Project

Chateau Ste Michelle, Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, Columbia Valley, Washington State, USA

Commended medal winner

£11.20 Enotria&Coe, The Wine Treasury