The Argentiera 2021 Bolgheri Superiore Argentiera (a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc) is quite dense and rich, showing the bold intensity of the vintage in no uncertain terms. The wine feels too extracted to my tastes and marks quite a step up in richness compared to the thinner 2022 vintage that I tasted at the same time. The bouquet offers blackberry liqueur and syrupy black cherry with spicy notes. The tannins are fleshed out for the most part, with a point of bitterness that still needs to settle. The 2022 is thinner and easier to drink, but this 2021 needs a few more years of bottle age to iron out.

48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc. Aged for 14 months in barriques and tonneaux. Ripe, bright fruit on the nose with a hint of sweet oak and quite notable acidity but ripe tannins and ready to drink already. But a bit stereotypical late 20th century. (JR)

Full bottle 1,351 g. 48% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc. 14 to 16 months in French oak barrels. Not much on the nose. Polished mahogany and plums. Broad, supple but emphatic, hierarchical tannins. The fruit is definitely under the control of the tannins. Warm, black spices in the Christmas-cake spectrum, raisins and Turkish coffee. Drying and slightly bitter in a planed-wood kind of way, but as a whole it works. (TC)