Tinto Negro, La Consulta (Mendoza, Argentina) Malbec 2016

I tasted this bottling for the first while knowing the price but without having looked at a tech sheet, and as a result, was fully braced for a whoppingly ripe, oak bomb experience of a wine.  And, to my very pleasant surprise, no bomb went off.  On the contrary, this proved to be dense but not over-ripe or grapey, and the wood lent a little spice and toast but no overt char.  Consequently, the delicious berry fruit flavors from this old vine site were really permitted to shine, displaying excellent depth and persistence with just enough grape tannin to firm up the finish.  As this was the first vintage of this wine that I’ve tasted, I don’t know how it will develop in bottle, but it is damned sure off to a great start.