Bodegas NQN

text and photographs © 2008 Tom Cannavan

These notes accompany our in-depth feature on Argentina.

white wines

NQN Picada 15 blend 2007
55% Chardonnay, 40% and 5% Pinot noir. Nice and bright, focused fruit with crisp, juicy fruit and good rounded acidity. Very juicy. 85/100

NQN Malma Chardonnay 2007
Nice little bit of background creaminess, a touch of vanilla fro Demptos oak barrels. The palate is quote full and rich, with a slightly heavy alcohol and too sweet an oak character. 85/100.

red wines

NQN Malma Pinot Noir 2007
Rather paintboxy, slightly harsh aromatics, with some bright cherry fruit. Palate has a nice juicy fruit, though perhaps lacks a bit of pinosity. 84/100

NQN Malma Reserve Pinot Noir 2006
Second use Taransud oak Barrels, but has quite a vanillin note, with a thick, creamy black fruit. Some plum and juicy cherry skin acidity, and quite nice tannins, but all a touch dry and inky, lacking a touch of fruit? 85/100

NQN Malma Reserve Pinot Noir 2005
Nice nose, with the vanillin and slightly cedary oak better integrated. There's a certain leafiness, and very nice structure on the palate, with good oak integration and a bit of plummy depth and spice. 87/100

NQN Picada 15 Malbec 2006
Oak chips used and micro ox. Slightly paint boxy, slightly lipsticky character. Huge, sweet palate, with some dry cherry fruit but plenty of low acid, soft red and black fruit. Good commercial wine. 85/100

NQN Malma Malbec 2006
Slightly sweaty aromas, with he lightly fragrance of the malbec coming through. Nicer palate, with rich red and black plum fruit and a nicer tannic base. 86/100

NQN Malma Reserve Malbec 2005
Nice bright, cherry and kirsch-like cherry fruit, with. Lots of vanilla and fudge. The palate has a nice balance, with the sweet fruit coining through. 87/100

NQN Malma Reserve Malbec 2006
Tank sample. Better balance, with the fruit coming through more powerfully. The palate betrays a little more dry, slightly astringent. 86/100

NQN Malbec Collecion 2005
Vineyard selection, form a vineyard at 5,000 plants per hectare. Aged 15 months in French oak, plus 20 months in tank. Very smooth, velvety, dark-fruited nose, with a little of the florality and plenty of plummy fruit. Big, dark, plummy oak with spices and a touch of exotic Sandalwood. Very nice wine this, though the oak is perhaps slightly overdone. 88/100. Around £15 in UK.

NQN Malbec Collecion 2006
Barrel sample. Much nicer, more violetty and kirsch like fruit that is much more expressive. Oak is reined back a little, and that is very suitable for the sweet but savoury and plummy weight of fruit, with a lovely tannin structure. 89/100.

NQN Malma Merlot 2005
Big, creamy, soft and inviting jammy berry nose. Plenty of vanilla. Palate has lots of jammy, thick fruit with a cloak of toasty oak. Good commercial wine. 85/100.

NQN Malma Merlot Reserve 2004
Slightly smoky and cedary character, with plush fruit quality and a bit of jamminess. Very creamy and vanillin rich on the palate, with a strawberry lusciousness and a bit of firm tannic weight kicking in. Drying, and quite a nice style in the end. 86/100

NQN Malma Merlot Reserve 2005
A pleasant touch of paint-box juiciness coming through. A touch of schisty minerality even. The palate has a black fruit intensity that has a firmer character. Appealing, with a bit of real bite and spice. 87/100.

NQN Malma Merlot Reserve 2003
Nice and chocolaty and rich, though perhaps the whole picture is rather heavy. 86/100

NQN Collecion blend 2004
60% Malbec, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Nice touch of leafiness to tobacco and leafy, mint leaf, with quite svelte tannins and a touch of spice. Very nice fruit. 88/100

NQN Collecion Blend 2005
Quite bright and paintboxy, with a nice purity of red fruits coming through. Very nice and spicy. Lots of spice and a powerful weight of fruit and tannin. 87/100

NQN Collecion Blend 2006
Blended, but not bottled. Very nice, bold, quite crunchy fruit. There is some really bright fruit being allowed to show through here. Ore brightness and kirsch-like juiciness. The coffee oak is quite dominant, but this has lots of potential. 89/100.

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