Achával-Ferrer - Quimera Mendoza 2020

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The word Chimera has two different meanings, and both have an intimate relationship with this wine. In Greek mythology, the "Chimera" was a beast made up of the parts of three different animals. This is a clear connection with the fact that it is a cut wine. Still, the second meaning of the word is the one that best represents wine. A Chimera is an impossible search, the search for the unattainable. This is the mentality that everyone has in the vineyards and the winery every year when they produce this wine: without following any rules or tradition, the goal is to produce the best possible blend every year. Chimera is design and architecture, an intimate discovery, a search for perfection.

Blend: 48% Malbec, 13% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot

Achával-Ferrer Description

Founded in 1998, Achaval-Ferrer is a team of friends who dream about great wines. Achaval-Ferrer is also a collection of old vineyards in beautiful places. They are committed to the production of wines that are expressive of their terroir. They are a small winery because this is the key to top quality. Low yields allow the vineyards to express their personality in the grapes. Low intervention winemaking allows the grapes to fully express their vineyard in the bottle. Each of their wines is a different expresson of Malbec: The Mendoza Malbec is about varietal tipicity. Their Quimera blend is about Malbec as the key to complexity and balance. And their Fincas (Single Vineyards) are about how Malbec expresses different soils and microclimates.

James Suckling: 92 Points

A very ripe and generous Quimera here with some mocha, ripe blackberries and baked plums. Plush, rich and generous on the juicy, medium- to full-bodied palate with a flattering finish.

Wine Advocate: 92 Points

Quimera was the only Malbec from the winery that wasn't 100% pure, and it now turns into a range of blends, including the original Quimera. I tasted the 2020 Quimera, when they reduced the new oak to around 60% (in 2020 there'll be around 40% only, and they also bought larger foudres) to keep the blend of varieties done before putting it in barrel, where it matured for 13 months. This is 48% Malbec, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot from many zones of Mendoza, Medrano, Lujan de Cuyo, Tupungato, Tunuyán and San Carlos. It's dark, ripe and juicy, with 14.8% alcohol, soft and voluptuous, with the varieties nicely integrated and the oak in the background. Tasted next to the 2019s, it shows how the vintage is ripe and the tannins are not as fine-boned. This is slightly riper and more rustic, but it should get more polished with some time in bottle.