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Tasting Notes
The joint ‘quest’ started in 2003, its mission being to find the most elegant wines from Argentina. The combination of Rothschild’s impeccable tradition in mastering Bordeaux wines and Catena’s local knowledge and revolutionary approach to seeking the highest quality in winemaking - and the highest altitudes - to produce wine with superior power, texture and richness than anywhere else in Mendoza, is resulting in better wines every year. Luis Gutierrez tasted the 2012 vintage in 2015 and described it as showing “very good balance and is powerful yet elegant with abundant, fine-grained tannins, bright berry flavors and a remarkable finish”. James Suckling described the 2013 as “complex and complete” and the 2014 as “very sophisticated”. Luis Gutierrez praised the 2014 for its “cleaner, more focused aromas” than previous vintages. The team at FINE + RARE were certainly convinced by the 2015 Caro and loved its elegant complexity and beautiful long finish. It is a fantastic wine that truly delivers the best of both worlds and at very good value compared to some other global tie-ups like Opus One.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate
Tim Atkin MW
More reviews and scores
One of my Argentinean wines of the vintage in 2015, this is the best release yet from this joint venture between Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) and the Catena family, launched in 2000. Combining Malbec with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly from Paraje Altamira in the Uco Valley, but with some support from Las Compuertas in Luján de Cuyo, it's a stunningly complex wine, which marries the richness of Argentinean flavours with the finesse and nuance of a top Left Bank Bordeaux. The fruit is bright and luminous, the oak scented and well-integrated, the tannins silky and caressing. What a red!
The eponymous flagship 2015 Caro is a blend of Malbec with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. As 2015 was a very challenging year for Cabernet Sauvignon, this vintage has more Malbec than in the past, which seems to have given it extra freshness. The percentage of Malbec has been creeping up since 2012, which has moved the profile toward more red fruit and freshness, and at the same time, they have been reducing the amount of new oak used. It comes from the oldest plots in their vineyards in Paraje Altamira and Las Compuertas. It fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts, including malolactic. The elevage lasted 18 months and was in French barriques produced by the Domaine Lafite, of which 60% were new and the rest second use. This is my favorite vintage of Caro so far, always an elegant and classical blend but now with an extra dimension of freshness. It has harmony and balance for a positive development in bottle. It's still young, but it's certainly approachable. 38,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in December 2016. Jun 2018, www.robertparker.com
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About the producer
Domaines Barons de Rothschild is the overarching group of estates owned by the Rothschild family of Ch. Lafite Rothschild.