PerSe
La Craie
Mendoza
2019

The producer

PerSe is the personal project of Edgardo (Edy) del Popolo and David Bonomi, two trailblazers in the Argentine wine scene who first met in 1995 while working at a local winery. David, one of the most knowledgeable oenologists in the Uco Valley, has extensive experience from Altamira in the south to Gualtallary in the north. Edy, whose parents owned vineyards in north Mendoza, studied oenology and agronomy before his winery was sold to Santa Rita Estates. The duo focuses on small plots (0.2-0.5 hectares) in Gualtallary, a high-altitude zone in Tupungato, Uco Valley, situated at around 1,300 meters. The cooler temperatures (3-6 degrees lower than Mendoza) require them to carefully select their sites, as only certain plots can produce grapes of the quality they aim for.

The wine

PerSe La Craie is a highly acclaimed blend of Malbec and Cabernet Franc from grapes grown at a high altitude vineyard where cooler temperatures help produce grapes of exceptional quality. The wine is especially known for its balance, depth, and elegance, earning very high critic scores. With notes of wildflowers, chalk, and fresh fruit, it reveals layers of complexity after decanting. Bold yet refined, it showcases the unique terroir of Gualtallary and stands out as one of Argentina’s top wines.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.