Alcohol: 13.4%
Grape(s): 100% Malbec
Location: Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina
Tasting Notes: This vintage shows a concentrated and lively color, ruby red with reddish hues. The nose is very typical of the winery’s style, with notes of plum, underbrush, gunpowder, black pepper, eucalyptus and pink pepper. With a fresh entry on the palate, fine acidity and balanced tannins stand out.
Notes: Grapes come from vineyards in Luján de Cuyo (70%) and Paraje Altamira, in the Uco Valley (30%). Hand harvested. Softly pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in order to express the vineyard they come from. Fermented in separate stainless steel tanks between 24°C for 10 days with indigenous yeast, 5% whole cluster. Each tank is tasted three times a day to determine what is needed. Aged for 9 months in concrete vats.
Food pairing: It is a medium-structured, juicy wine. Ideal to pair with various dishes, from red meats to pasta or grilled vegetables.
Winery Story: In 1995 Alberto Antonini, a well-known Tuscan winemaker, and Antonio Morescalchi, a young entrepreneur, took a trip to visit the burgeoning wine areas of South America. It only took one stop to find what they were looking for. They were immediately impressed by the vineyards thriving in Mendoza’s high altitude and dry climate and were captivated by the whispered traditions and blend of cultures.
They returned to Tuscany powerfully impressed not only by the region but also by the unexplored potential of Malbec, a grape with a strong local tradition that was largely ignored and misunderstood. While the rest of the wine world saw Mendoza struggling to shed its bulk wine image, the two young Italians saw Mendoza as a place where traditional viticultural values and unblemished land could be reinvigorated with a modern winemaking approach and international experience. Instead of planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as many others were doing during the 1990s, the team decided to invest their confidence in Malbec. Today, Malbec is the varietal for which Argentina is best known.
Against all odds they cemented their vision to become Terroir Specialists Shortly after, two friends and business partners, also enthused by the idea, joined the venture: Attilio Pagli, a renowned Tuscan winemaker with two 100 point-scoring wines in his personal record and Carlos Vazquez, an Argentine Agronomist, who work for 20 years with the early Catena group, planting new varieties, developing previously unknown vineyard sites and contributing greatly to the qualitative change of Argentine viticulture early on.
