When we recently re-acquainted ourselves with this unforgettable wine, it came with a pointed suggestion as to when to offer it: August 6th, the anniversary date of Bolivia’s independence from Spain (declared in 1925). But while it was fortuitous that we tasted and acquired it when we did, we would have showcased this 2017 Tannat anyway—because it’s a wine you need to know about. Nestled in an “elbow” of the Andes north of the border with Argentina, Bolivia’s Samaipata Valley is a new wine frontier for most everyone, except of course the many people growing grapes there, who draw on centuries of winemaking history in some of the highest-elevation vineyards in the world.

The name of today’s wine, “1750,” is the altitude—in METERS—of the vineyard it is sourced from. The grape variety is Tannat, which, like Carmenère in Chile and Malbec in Argentina, has become relatively obscure in its French homeland but found a glorious new expression in Bolivia (not to mention Uruguay, where it has become the signature red-wine variety). What I said about the 2016 edition of this powerhouse wine applies equally to this ’17: The intense luminosity at such dizzying heights results in a red of immense extraction and power—ripe and rich, but blessed with a cool-climate freshness at the same time. If your only frame of reference for Tannat (if you have one at all) are the rustic, often bitingly tannic reds of French appellations such as Madiran, this one is a more luscious, rounded version—without sacrificing the brooding, dark-fruited, deeply earthy allure of Tannat. Lovers of big reds from Bordeaux’s Left Bank, from Mendoza in Argentina, and from Cornas in the Rhône will all appreciate the thunderous bass line of deliciousness on offer here. Th