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Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Appellation Altamira 2020 750ml

size
750ml
country
Argentina
region
Cuyo
appellation
Mendoza
subappellation
Uco Valley
WA
95
VM
94
Additional vintages
2020 2019 2018 2017
WA
95
Rated 95 by Wine Advocate
The 2020 Malbec Appellation Altamira was produced with 100% organic grapes from their Jardín Altamira property at 1,200 meters in altitude. This is the first vintage from the new plantings, and the wine doesn't show it; it has depth and complexity, showing how the place is often more important than the age of the vines. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and 30% full clusters and matured 50% in concrete and the other 50% in untoasted 3,500-liter French oak foudres for 20 months. It has 13.5% alcohol, and even in a warm and dry year like 2020, this Altamira comes through as very balanced and fresh, with notes of aromatic herbs, expressive and open. It has a serious palate, balanced, medium-bodied and dry, with a chalky texture and the seriousness from the cooler years. It seems to transcend the vintage. 11,400 bottles were filled in July 2022. ... More details
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Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Appellation Altamira 2020 750ml

SKU 918806
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$40.87
/750ml bottle
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Professional Ratings
WA
95
VM
94
WA
95
Rated 95 by Wine Advocate
The 2020 Malbec Appellation Altamira was produced with 100% organic grapes from their Jardín Altamira property at 1,200 meters in altitude. This is the first vintage from the new plantings, and the wine doesn't show it; it has depth and complexity, showing how the place is often more important than the age of the vines. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and 30% full clusters and matured 50% in concrete and the other 50% in untoasted 3,500-liter French oak foudres for 20 months. It has 13.5% alcohol, and even in a warm and dry year like 2020, this Altamira comes through as very balanced and fresh, with notes of aromatic herbs, expressive and open. It has a serious palate, balanced, medium-bodied and dry, with a chalky texture and the seriousness from the cooler years. It seems to transcend the vintage. 11,400 bottles were filled in July 2022.
VM
94
Rated 94 by Vinous Media
The 2020 Malbec Appellation Paraje Altamira was 75% aged in foudres. Purple in the glass. The nose offers notes of violets, herbs, sour cherry and hints of thyme. Broad and compact with a degree of fat, prominent freshness, grip, chalk and a firm, juicy flow, this is a rich, layered, long-lasting wine.
Winery
• 100% Malbec from the Jardin Altamira vineyard site – one of Altos las Hormigas’ estate vineyard sites. • Alluvial Terrace of Altamira, at 1,200 meters above sea level with little clay and limestone covered pebbles. • Fruit goes through a double selection process and are transferred by gravity into small concrete containers. • 15 day fermentation with indigenous yeasts at 26ºC, with manual pigeage throughout. • Aged for 18 months in untoasted foudres and then 12 months in bottle.
Product Details
size
750ml
country
Argentina
region
Cuyo
appellation
Mendoza
subappellation
Uco Valley
Additional vintages
2020 2019 2018 2017
Overview
The 2020 Malbec Appellation Altamira was produced with 100% organic grapes from their Jardín Altamira property at 1,200 meters in altitude. This is the first vintage from the new plantings, and the wine doesn't show it; it has depth and complexity, showing how the place is often more important than the age of the vines. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and 30% full clusters and matured 50% in concrete and the other 50% in untoasted 3,500-liter French oak foudres for 20 months. It has 13.5% alcohol, and even in a warm and dry year like 2020, this Altamira comes through as very balanced and fresh, with notes of aromatic herbs, expressive and open. It has a serious palate, balanced, medium-bodied and dry, with a chalky texture and the seriousness from the cooler years. It seems to transcend the vintage. 11,400 bottles were filled in July 2022.
green grapes

Varietal: Malbec

In recent years, the Malbec single variety wines coming out of many New World countries have been gaining a lot of attention as a result of their fantastic plummy flavors, and strong, full-bodied nature. However, Malbec grape varietals have been cultivated for centuries in many Old World countries for these very characteristics, and they have long had a strong presence in some of the best blended wines ever produced by leading wineries. Their high tannin level and heavy juiciness means they are ideal for big, powerful full-bodied wines packing a strong fruit-forward punch on the palate, and their beautiful deep red color has long been admired and upheld as a mark of quality. The Malbec grapes are probably at their best when blended with other, mellower and more rounded grape varietals, such as a Merlot, as this allows their best features and their fruity flavor to shine, whilst being softened somewhat and made lighter and more drinkable.
barrel

Region: Cuyo

Argentina's Cuyo region has, for several decades now, been renowned worldwide for the high quality of its fruit-forward and remarkably flavorful wines. The arid region includes such famous provinces as the Mendoza, and wineries in Cuyo often have generations of experience when it comes to making the most of the mineral rich yet arid soils which typify the mountainous landscape. The Desaguadero River and its tributaries form many natural valleys through the Cuyo region, and as such, irrigation has long since provided the dry and dusty vineyard with a fertile and crystal-clear water source, straight from the snowy peaks of the nearby Andes. Although Malbec is the grape varietal most commonly associated with Cuyo, wineries continue to experiment with other varietals there, and the wine industry of Cuyo in Argentina continues to go from strength to strength.
fields

Country: Argentina

Anyone who has been the Mendoza area of Argentina may be surprised to find that this is one of the primary wine regions of the country, now comfortably sitting as the fifth largest producer of wine in the world. The Mendoza is an incredibly dry and arid desert, which receives as little as two hundred millimeters of rainfall per year, and supports very little life at all. We can thank the ancient technologies of the Huarpes Indians for Argentina's current booming wine trade, as they managed to irrigate the region by digging channels from the Mendoza river, thus creating an area which had enough access to water with which to grow vines. Not only this, but the grape which Argentina primarily uses for their wines – Malbec – actually flourishes in such conditions, as it is less likely to suffer from the rot it so often finds in the considerably damper regions of Europe it has its origins in. Such expertise and foresight has resulted in Argentina being able to produce high quality wines of both red and white types, with Malbec, Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon dominating the vineyards for red wines, and Torrontés, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc making up for most of the white wine produced there.
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More Details
green grapes

Varietal: Malbec

In recent years, the Malbec single variety wines coming out of many New World countries have been gaining a lot of attention as a result of their fantastic plummy flavors, and strong, full-bodied nature. However, Malbec grape varietals have been cultivated for centuries in many Old World countries for these very characteristics, and they have long had a strong presence in some of the best blended wines ever produced by leading wineries. Their high tannin level and heavy juiciness means they are ideal for big, powerful full-bodied wines packing a strong fruit-forward punch on the palate, and their beautiful deep red color has long been admired and upheld as a mark of quality. The Malbec grapes are probably at their best when blended with other, mellower and more rounded grape varietals, such as a Merlot, as this allows their best features and their fruity flavor to shine, whilst being softened somewhat and made lighter and more drinkable.
barrel

Region: Cuyo

Argentina's Cuyo region has, for several decades now, been renowned worldwide for the high quality of its fruit-forward and remarkably flavorful wines. The arid region includes such famous provinces as the Mendoza, and wineries in Cuyo often have generations of experience when it comes to making the most of the mineral rich yet arid soils which typify the mountainous landscape. The Desaguadero River and its tributaries form many natural valleys through the Cuyo region, and as such, irrigation has long since provided the dry and dusty vineyard with a fertile and crystal-clear water source, straight from the snowy peaks of the nearby Andes. Although Malbec is the grape varietal most commonly associated with Cuyo, wineries continue to experiment with other varietals there, and the wine industry of Cuyo in Argentina continues to go from strength to strength.
fields

Country: Argentina

Anyone who has been the Mendoza area of Argentina may be surprised to find that this is one of the primary wine regions of the country, now comfortably sitting as the fifth largest producer of wine in the world. The Mendoza is an incredibly dry and arid desert, which receives as little as two hundred millimeters of rainfall per year, and supports very little life at all. We can thank the ancient technologies of the Huarpes Indians for Argentina's current booming wine trade, as they managed to irrigate the region by digging channels from the Mendoza river, thus creating an area which had enough access to water with which to grow vines. Not only this, but the grape which Argentina primarily uses for their wines – Malbec – actually flourishes in such conditions, as it is less likely to suffer from the rot it so often finds in the considerably damper regions of Europe it has its origins in. Such expertise and foresight has resulted in Argentina being able to produce high quality wines of both red and white types, with Malbec, Bonarda and Cabernet Sauvignon dominating the vineyards for red wines, and Torrontés, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc making up for most of the white wine produced there.