Gran Vu Blend

2019 Argentina Mendoza
93 Points

The top-of-the-range 2019 Gran VU Blend was produced with a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Árboles in the Valle de Uco following the philosophy and style of winemaker José "Pepe" Galante. The wine is ripe and powerful, with 15% alcohol and a full-bodied palate with abundant, slightly dusty tannins. -L.G.

Wine Advocate November 2022
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle

Gran Vu Blend

2017 Argentina Mendoza
94 Points

A blend of 67% Malbec and 33% Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Arboles and San Pablo, Uco Valley, the 2017 Blend Gran VU spent 24 months in 20% new oak. Dark garnet with a brick dust sheen. The nose is still precise in spite of the wine’s relative age, offering notes of fresh plum and sour cherry with hints of herbs and oak followed by vanilla and nutmeg. It's juicy in the mouth with fine tannins and an easygoing feel. The tannic core is enhanced by the freshness. Fruit and oak, the twin pillars of this wine, reappear at the end.-J.H.

Vinous November 2021
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle

Gran Vu Blend

2018 Argentina Mendoza
94 Points

The 2018 Blend Gran VU is a blend of 71% Malbec and 29% Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Arboles and San Pablo, Uco Valley and spent 24 months aging in 1/5 new oak. The complex, expressive aromas reflect the Malbec majority with ripe and candied plum, hints of violets and touches of redcurrant, mint and oak. Broad and tacky in the mouth, the grippy tannins lend character enhanced by the freshness and wrapped in the volume while fruity aromas appear at the back of the throat. A substantial wine with an oaky subtlety and intensity.-J.H.

Vinous November 2021
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle

Gran Vu Blend

2017 Argentina Mendoza
92 Points

The luxury cuvée 2017 Gran VU Blend was produced with 67% Malbec and 33% Cabernet Sauvignon from Los Árboles in the Valle de Uco. It's a ripe and powerful red with abundant ripe fruit and tannins that would make it stand up to powerful food, and it should provide for good aging potential in bottle. The varieties fermented separately in oak, and the wine matured in French barriques for 24 months. This should be a long-distance runner. 7,800 bottles were filled in June 2019.

Wine Advocate March 2021
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2016 Argentina Mendoza
94 Points

A blend of Malbec with 17% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Uco Valley, aged for 24 months in 20% new oak. The alluring, complex aromas include sweet and sour cherry and violets, all kept in a cigar box with mint. A nuanced, heady wine, it is relaxed on the palate, with a heightened freshness that keeps it nimble and injects energy into the fine tannins, which come from both the fruit and the wood. At 13.5% alcohol, the balance with the acidity brought by the year 2016 makes for a unique and delicious red.

Vinous October 2020
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2015 Argentina Mendoza
91 Points

The 2015 vintage of this blend of Malbec with 17% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Uco Valley spent 24 months in oak, one-fifth of it new. Its intensity was reduced by the climate that year. Purple in color with garnet flecks, presenting a nose of plum, mint and black currant over a bed of wood. Intense in the mouth, where the oak wins out to produce an earnest, slightly tired expression that still has one or two nuances of interest.

Vinous October 2020
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2015 Argentina Mendoza
92 Points

The pricey 2015 Gran VU Blend is 62% Malbec and 38% Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyards in the Valle de Uco (VU), Los Árboles and San Pablo. The Malbec fermented in new 225-liter French oak barrels with dry yeasts, and the Cabernet Sauvignon fermented in 7,000-liter oak vats with dry yeasts. Malolactic was in barrique, where the wine completed 24 months of aging. They were not able to do this luxury blend in 2014, a year with lots of rain at the end of the harvest when Cabernet Sauvignon suffered a lot. 2015 was not easy either, but they were more prepared after the experience in 2014. This is a classical, ripe and generously oaked red blend with power, concentration and clout. It has a generous palate with plenty of tannins. It needs powerful food. 12,000 bottles were filled in August 2017.

Wine Advocate October 2019
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2013 Argentina Mendoza
92 Points

The 2013 Gran VU Blend is 62% Malbec and 38% Cabernet Sauvignon (higher in Cabernet than the previous years) from their vineyards in the Valle de Uco (VU). The Malbec fermented in brand new 225-liter French oak barriques with dry yeasts, while the Cabernet Sauvignon fermented in 7,000-liter oak vats with dry yeasts. Malolactic was in barrique, where the wine completed 24 months of aging. It feels like a wine from a different era: it has dominant aromas of toast and is very oaky, smoky and spicy, with ripe fruit and especially a very tannic palate, with a powdery texture. It's a bit harsh even after a good couple of years in bottle. It does have some freshness from the conditions of the vintage. An oaky red for fans of the style. 6,514 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2015.

Wine Advocate June 29, 2018
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2013 Argentina Mendoza
92 Points

Polished and full of richly spiced dark and red fruit flavors that feature some meaty accents. Offers seductive creaminess, with a finish that oozes with raspberry tart and dark chocolate notes. Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Wine Spectator April 30, 2018
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2012 Argentina Mendoza
92 Points

VU stands for Valle de Uco, the origin of the top red 2012 Gran VU Blend, which is a combination of 72% Malbec and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon from selected rows of different vineyards. The Malbec fermented in brand new 225-liter French oak barriques and the Cabernet Sauvignon in 7,000-liter oak vats all with dry yeasts. After six months in barrel the two wines were blended and put back in oak to complete an élevage of two years. 2012 was a relatively warm and ripe harvest, and you notice it here, where the fruit is black rather than red, and there is a nice patina of spices and smoke provided by the élevage that makes it quite showy. It has the bright fruitiness of the Valle de Uco, with fine tannins and good acidity. This is approachable, but it should get better with some more time in bottle.

Wine Advocate December 30, 2016
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2012 Argentina Mendoza
93 Points

Perfectly sound and ripe blackberry aromas come with a rooty note, a touch of oaky coconut and fine-grained wood scents. This blend of 72% Malbec and 28% Cabernet Sauvignon is compact and layered. Ripe cassis, blackberry and chocolate flavors finish toasty and with hints of coffee and spice. Drink through 2022.

Wine Enthusiast October 2016
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2012 Argentina Mendoza
91 Points

Bright ruby-red. Very ripe but restrained aromas of blackberry, black plum, mocha and licorice. Highly concentrated and fine-grained, with a liqueur-like ripeness well supported by a mineral component, harmonious acidity and serious tannic spine. Deeper and longer than the 2012 Pr1mum Malbec, with the Cabernet element contributing finesse of texture, tannic firmness and energy.

Vinous March 2016
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2011 Argentina Mendoza
93 Points

The new top-of-the-range is the 2011 Gran VU Blend. VU stands for Valle de Uco, but they were not allowed to use it in the name, so they went for the acronym. They separated some specific rows of vines in their estate (at least 10 different places for the Malbec) for this wine and the different varieties were handled separately: the Malbec is fermented in new barriques and the Cabernet fermented in oak vats. The wine matured in these new French barrique for some two years. Inky dark and with strong black aromas of peat, graphite, coal and plenty of ripe back cherries and plums. The palate is much more elegant than I expected given the profile found in the nose. There is good freshness and acidity and even though it's a big wine with plenty of stuffing the components are in very good balance. This is a beast of a red blend, an XXL expression of the Uco Valley, that should be able to age nicely in bottle. It's four years old now and it looks like a baby after two years in bottle. It represents quite a big jump in price. 5,916 bottle produced.

Wine Advocate August 2015
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum

Gran Vu Blend

2011 Argentina Mendoza
92 Points

Stout aromas of ripe blackberry and cassis come with mocha and dry spice notes on the nose of this Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon blend. A firm mouthfeel with grinding tannins is a good set up to oaky, ripe berry flavors accented by wood grain, cocoa and cinnamon notes. Plenty of oak graces a long, ripe, solid finish.

Wine Enthusiast April 2015
Salentein, Bodegas Gran Vu Blend bottle Platinum