Another frankly sensational wine from the Finca Libertad vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina. There’s an amazing history here. The vineyards were originally planted by Tiburcio Benegas in about 1890 when he brought French vine stock over from Bordeaux. He was Governor of Mendoza at the time and also borrowed 5 million Francs and set up the Bank of  Mendoza.  The vineyards susequently flourished and went on to become El Trapiche which dominated the quality end of Argentinian wine production for most of the 20th century. It was still kept in the Benegas family for most of this period until it became so big it was inevitably split up and sold off. Federico J Benegas, a wonderful man and a friend of mine, simply took his Bank of Mendoza cheque book and bought back the original vineyard with quite possibly the best vines in Argentina, and set about striving for viticultural perfection. Michel Rolland of Bordeaux helps with the blending on all the Benegas reds – and as a result they’re all superb wines.

What’s it like?

It’s a big, powerful wine as you’d expect, more savoury than fruit driven, with intense flavours. It’s very smooth with balnced oak, tannins and alcohol with incredible length. This is a superb bottle of wine, and I’m not just saying that because I like Federico and Carmen, it’s amongst some of the best wines I’v ever tried.

How much? And where do I buy it?

Benegas Lynch Syrah 2006 is available from just a handful of quality independents but the best deal is to be found at www.goodwineonline.co.uk at £16.99