Reserve Malbec vs. Malbec
People see the words “Reserve” and “Grand Reserve” printed on wine labels all the time. Anuva also has many wines that are designated with these titles. But what does that really mean?
The only way to really compare a reserve wine to another wine is to compare the wines that one winery makes. For example, one should compare Cavagnaro Malbec to Cavagnaro Reserve Malbec when attempting to discern relative quality. The reason for this is that each winery uses the word reserve in its own way. This term, in fact, is completely overused in the wine industry, as many huge wineries will simply put the word reserve or “Vintner’s Reserve” on every single bottle of the lowest quality wine they produce. This is simply a marketing tactic and in this instance the word reserve means nothing.
Many wineries have now started using the term “grand reserve”, “icon wines” or “flagship wines”to denote their higher level productions because the word reserve by itself is so overused. Another term that has been used often is “cuvée” but this is more of a “special batch” or a particular vat that the winemaker has noticed is superior to the rest of his wine of that vintage. The key again, though, is to compare this to the “normal” wine that that winery produces. If no “normal” counterpart exists that costs less than the “reserve” or “cuvée” of a particular winery, be careful, it’s probably a marketing tactic only.
Originally, however, the term was used to denote wines of special quality that the winemaker would “reserve” for further aging or for a special occasion rather than put directly on the market. The most important part of making any wine is of course, the grapes. Reserve quality grapes must be of lower yield, higher density (in sugars, tannins, acid and polyphenols–i.e. the stuff that makes good wine) than their “introductory line”, “entrance line”, or “classic line” counterparts.
Higher quality grapes are harder to grow and must be managed more carefully. They also make wines that stand up to oak aging better, and thus are usually given more time in oak, new oak especially, since this will add complexity and other favorable characteristics. Many over-oaked wines that are deemed reserve or grand reserve by their makers, are made with grapes of insufficient quality to stand up to oak and result in wines where one feels like one is chewing on wood instead of drinking a luscious, complex wine.
Another typical characteristic of true reserve wines is that after oak aging they will be left to age in the bottle for sometimes up to several years before being released to the market.
Clearly, the difficulty and rarity in growing/harvesting of higher quality grapes and the costs involved in barreling and aging drive the price of reserve wines up. But remember, price has nothing to do with quality directly. I have tried many a famous wine that costs well above 100 dollars retail that has not only disappointed me, but come in behind wines that cost 1/3 of the price in blind tastings.
Needless to say that the king of determining wine quality, ultimately, is you and you alone. Ignoring what the label says and doing blind tastings is the only true way to determine your preferences. So compare the classics to the reserves to the grand reserves to the cuvées and see what you find.
