Review: Domaine Bousquet Reserve Organic Cabernet Sauvignon

I’ve written about Domaine Bousquet wines many times over the years. They are a producer that consistently makes good wine at reasonable prices and does so while being good stewards for the environment.

Sustainability is often one of the themes I highlight when I write about Domaine Bousquet, but one of the things I haven’t mentioned until now is that they are a Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) winery. In my opinion, this is a big deal. You might even say that it means they’re improving the environment through their farming practices. Although it’s a relatively new certification program, Domaine Bousquet is one of only a handful of wine producers to receive this certification, and I believe they’re the only one in Argentina.

I recently wrote a post about Bonterra, in California, highlighting their ROC certification. If you want to know more about ROC and why it matters, read that post. After I published that one, another organic producer, who is not certified, asked me why I think certification matters. Certainly I appreciate any producer who does the right thing and practices organic, regenerative agriculture with or without certification. But having a certification, like ROC, makes it easier for consumers to understand what they are doing and feel confident they are doing so with the rigor necessary to become certified.

Although I’ve highlighted the sustainability practices at Domaine Bousquet before, knowing they are now ROC certified gives even greater credibility to their sustainability story.

This wine is also certified as USDA Organic, which means that not only did the farming practices meet USDA Organic standards but also the winemaking practices. That means no sulfites were added to this wine.

Tasting Notes

This wine smells rich from the first whiff, offering concentrated plum, blackberry, black cherry, vanilla and toasted oak aromas. It tastes delicious too, with flavors reflecting ripe blackberry, cassis, plum, black cherry and vanilla. The mouthfeel is pleasant. The acidity is vibrant. It finishes long with blackberry and spice flavors.

Although it’s labeled as a Cabernet Sauvignon, some Malbec was also blended into this wine. Malbec is known to have a pronounced black cherry aroma and even though Malbec accounts for only 15% of the juice in this wine, I quickly recognized that aromatic note. It’s a nice complement to the Cabernet Sauvignon and adds a richness to this wine.

Wine: Domaine Bousquet Reserve Organic Cabernet Sauvignon
Varieties: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec
Vintage: 2021
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 90
Average price: $18.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.