Argentine Malbec wine: description, composition and reviews

Snow-covered Andes dominate the western part of the sky, hanging over the vineyards, like Gulliver, dressed in white, bending over the valley of the Lilliputians. The stream of wind, constantly descending from the mountains, rustles with the leaves of the grapes, resembling the quiet murmur of the river ...

Wines of Argentina: malbec

It is worth the effort to take your eyes off the surrounding beauties and turn it down, into the "kalikat" - a hole dug in the ground between the rows of grapes. The cut reveals layers of pale beige limestone mixed with large smooth white rocks. Nearby there is another depression, but the soil in it was completely different. It is chalky limestone, interspersed with a small pebble. Through the row one more kalikata is made, in which limestone no longer exists, only loamy loess.

Wines from grapes grown on each of these soils will be just as different. For example, Malbec on the chalky soil will be dry and citrus, with the scents of minerals and herbs. The rocky ground will give a drink of a higher tone, will give a more herbaceous, piquant, juicy taste and more intense minerality. And grapes, growing on loams, have a fine acidity with a predominance of fruit aromas over mineral ones.

Among the connoisseurs of a sunny drink, Argentina first glorified the variety of Malbek grapes. The wines from it are red, distinguished by a richness of style, in which the aromas of excellent fruits and oak dominate. They have become almost a common brand, the red equivalent of pinot grigio. In bars and restaurants throughout the United States, wine lovers looking for anonymous reds ask for a glass of Malbec. True, a significant segment of consumers is not used to it yet.

Argentine Malbac wines, the price of which is within 10-15 $ per bottle and does not exceed $ 30 for the best brands, are rather democratic and can be a profitable alternative to French ones.

Demand for terroir

Taster-researchers, who are always at the forefront of the search, have fueled a new interest in fine and harmonious wines. They initiated the re-examination of grapes, once considered too vague, and regions previously lost sight of. They appreciate drinks that express terroir. For them, Argentine Malbec can become an Australian shiraz.

Perhaps unfair, but to Australia began to be treated as the homeland of extremely heavy fruit wines. So, Argentina was destined to be associated with a popular grape variety. Although mainly malbec wine reviews of consumers refer to the fruit style, an increasing number of producers from the Mendoza region, the center of Argentinean grapes production of this variety, is trying to go beyond this framework. They begin to make a product that follows the nuances of the terroir.

Cognitive "kalikatas"

Some producers are keen to make the finest, thinner wine from Malbec vine. Others are looking for other varieties, such as Shenen Blanc, Cabernet-franc, Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Some winemakers, for example, "Catena Zapata", do both.

Therefore, throughout the Mendoza vineyards are dotted with these "kalikatas" - pits in the soil dug not only for the sake of enlightening the visitors, but also for training the winemakers themselves, who so long cared more about the simplicity of cultivation and the quantity of produce, rather than about the quality of wines or the specific terroirs. It's easy to imagine Cistercian monks doing something similar when they cataloged the soil of Burgundy 500 years ago.

The process has become difficult, because the terroirs of Mendoza are incredibly complex. In the vineyard "Adrianna" and in many other places, the structure of the soil changes radically from one row of vines to another, sometimes even just a few meters.

The geology of Mendoza was formed millions of years ago, when the ancient ocean covered the territory from Patagonia to Peru, leaving behind rich deposits of limestone. For countless millennia, rivers from the Andes have laid rock and mud, forming a variety of different combinations of clay, stones and gravel.

Desired limestone

"And there are still a lot of pure limestone in the Andes, and its thin veins stretch to Mendoza," says Pedro Parra, a Chilean geologist specializing in terroirs and a partner of Altos Las Ormigas, a local producer who intends to make wines with a clearly expressed terroir. "In one place there may be solid limestone, but a few meters away it is no longer there."

For Parra and his colleagues, the chalky soil is the Holy Grail, a depository from which qualitative mineral flows flow. He tirelessly searches for him in Mendoza, digs up the earth, analyzes the soil samples, correlating his discoveries with what he tastes in the wines.

Differences can be awesome. "Poulenta Estate" is an excellent producer located in the Luhan de Cuyo, a region in the immediate vicinity of Mendoza, where there are quite a few wineries, and there is a vineyard, the soil of which consists mainly of sand, gravel and clay. He also has another vineyard in the south of the Uko valley with stony limestone deposits.

The malbec wine from Lujan de Cuyo is pleasantly fruity and velvety. In the Uko valley it is structured and tannic, the fruit notes in it are interspersed with the flavors and flavors of graphite. "Pulenta" mixes these two varieties to make a blended malbec, but the wine from the Uko Valley is, of course, better.

Struggle of stone and clay

Indeed, the malbec wine from Mendoza, which is produced from grapes grown on clay soils, especially if the clay is often watered and fertilized, is darker, sweet, fruity and with a high alcohol content. It seems sadly familiar. The wine is made from a berry, grown on rocky grounds, often with some admixture of limestone, as a rule, more structured, expressed and subtle.

Parra looks at the terroir Manichean.

"Stones and clay are struggling with each other," he says, standing by the "kalikata" in a vineyard in the Uko Valley between the cities of La Consult and Eugenio Bustos. - Clay creates a monster wine. Stones produce vertical, structured drinks. You either like wines in the style of clay, or limestone. "

The first high mountain

"Catena Zapata" was a different, more complicated way. Nicholas Catena, who adopted the family winery in the 1960s, first began moving towards high mountain vineyards in 1980 and 1990 after being convinced that wines can become more noble and refined only if they are made in a cold climate, especially when compared With vineyards located at lower heights near the city of Mendoza. Only after the bookmark "Adrianna", the most high-altitude plantation of "Katena Zapata" in the Uko Valley, the winery began to analyze the structure of its soils.

Cold and light

In 1995, Katena's daughter Laura founded the Catena Institute for Research and Development, which pays special attention to Adrianne. Currently, she is the general director of the "Catena Zapata" and believes that the soil is only part of the formula for creating an elegant, full nuance of the drink, along with the cold, dry fresh climate at high altitudes and the quality of lighting.

"To produce wines similar to those made in the" Adrianna ", both components are needed: a cool climate and special soils," she said.

Less oak

Since the terroir is so important, the best manufacturers take steps so that it does not muffle anything. Many producers of Mendoza still rely too much on new oak barrels, which impart a taste and structure to the drink, but winemakers such as Catena Zapata, Altos Las Ormigas, Poulenta and Mendel make conscious efforts to limit the use of oak.

"Catena Zapata" on "Adrianne" produces two types of high-quality chardonnay, which perfectly illustrate this approach: these are untouched, full of nuances drinks. The winery also makes a fresh, flowery, beautifully balanced malbec wine with the curious name Mundus Bacillus Terrae (in the form of mold, found only in certain parts of the vineyard).

According to winemaker Javier Lo Forte of the "Poulent Estate", he seeks to make wines "sophisticated, refined and delicate", for example, the stunningly spicy cabernet-franc that fits all his goals. "Pulenta" also produces fresh, tart Sauvignon blanca, spicy chardonnay and a deep, structured granola malbec.

Since 2011, the malbec wine from "Altos Las Ormigas" from a number of different vineyards has become less and less oak, more refined and mineral.

"Mendel" in Luhan de Cuyo along with the 80-year-old plantations of Malbec and Cabernet additionally owns the old vineyard in the Ukko Valley "Finka Remota". Here make a deep, textured, mineral seven-million. Also here produce delicate, balanced wine "Mariposa" (malbec), structured, mineral Cabernet Sauvignon and "Unus" - a mixture of Cabernet, Malbec and Pertipado, very concentrated and tannic. None of them is oak.

The Michelini Brothers

In the restaurants of Mendoza and Buenos Aires, you can meet other producers who are trying to create more balanced wines. Among them - a pleasantly sour, attractive shenen-blanc from the "Hen del Alma", light, but with the waffle nuances of Cabernet-France "Sorsal" and another charming cabernet-franc "Micheliniwa".

Perhaps it is not by chance that all these wines are made by Michelini, the three brothers who create their various combinations, which can be found in the stylish wine bars of New York.

Cabernet-France "Micheliniwein" comes from the "Tupungato Weinlends", an unusual project in the Uko Valley, which combines luxurious residences with the atmosphere of country clubs, golf courses and polo and private vineyards.

The future of Argentine Malbec

According to the geologist Parra, the flat areas are predominantly clayey with alluvial soils, on which the vine grows well, but steep slopes consisting of rocky sand limestone are still empty.

"There is a tradition of planting grapes on flat areas, but the Grand Cree can only be grown on these magnificent slopes, which are completely free," he complained. "Maybe this is the business of the future, Argentina 2020".