Carmelo Patti 2015 Gran Assemblage Red Blend, Mendoza, Argentina

The Carmelo Patti 2015 Gran Assemblage doesn’t show up in thunder—it slips in, cloaked in shadow. You first sense black currant tangled with damp earth, cedar bark, and that flicker of chalk-dust minerality that speaks of place, not manipulation.

Take a sip and you’ll feel it, not taste it—the wine’s weight carried in the weave of structure. Fruit folds into graphite-brushed tannins and salt-of-the-ground grip. There’s depth, but it’s held in check, not flaunted. Licorice and forest floor drift in the silence.

It’s a blend—not flashy, but wise: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Franc threaded together. Aging in French oak (around a year) gives shape, not starch. Rodgers say “rustic, old-school Bordeaux,” but this is not mimicry—it’s awareness of roots, in Mendoza soil.

Carmelo Patti is a maker of pilgrim’s wines—he’s not chasing flash or trend. No consultants, no fast oak, no rush to release. Here, the wine is born, aged in cellar and bottle, until it speaks in full sentences. That discipline is in every layer.

This is not a glass raised for applause. It’s raised to memory. Pull it out with slow-roasted lamb, salted beef, or just alone at night when the air is still and the glass finds you.

Carmelo Patti 2015 Gran Assemblage—Old-world soul in Mendoza’s stride, quiet in endurance.