The super-expressive 2004 Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard is opaque purple/black in color. Its perfume of toasty oak, mineral, lavender, blueberry, and black cherry is very sexy and leads to a complex, spicy, rich, chewy wine which also manages to combine elegance and power. Its length and superb balance suggest another eight years of cellaring with a drinking window from 2016 to 2040. Vina Cobos is Paul Hobbs’ winery in Mendoza. He is better known (at least for the moment) to USA connoisseur/collectors for his namesake winery in Napa Valley which has received many accolades (including 100-point scores from Robert Parker) for its Cabernets, Pinot Noirs, and Chardonnays. What is less well known is that Hobbs is a pioneer in fine wine production in Argentina, having started there in 1988 with Nicolas Catena. Senor Catena gives Hobbs much credit for the success of Catena-Zapata’s Chardonnay program. He has since extended his consulting efforts both in Argentina and Chile but the capstone of Hobbs’ work is Vina Cobos which began in 1998 and moved into its own winery facility in 2007. The first vintage of the top-of-the-line Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard was 1998 but it was ruined by rain and never sold in the USA. 2000 and 2001 were not up to par, 2000 being the El Nino year and 2001 being too dilute, resulting in their declassification.Importer: Paul Hobbs Imports, Sebastopol, CA; tel. (707) 824-9879