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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

Malbec grapes have a beautiful deep and dusty purple color, and can now be found growing in abundance in many different countries. They thrive most successfully in hot, dry southern climates, a long way from their home in native France. However, whilst many Old World wineries had and continue to have a lot of success with this flavorful grape, its susceptibility to rot and weakness against cold and damp meant that its usage began to dwindle in the countries such as France whilst it grew in the New. Malbec's thick skins lend it strong tannins, something which allows the wines produced from these grapes to hold their distinctive, astringent and full-bodied character. They also tend to be packed full of plummy, fleshy fruit-forward flavors, making them an interesting and complex grape for single variety wines, as well as an ideal grape for blending and aging.
barrel

Region: Cuyo

Situated in and around the Andean mountains, the Cuyo region of Argentina has long been associated with the best of the country's wine industry. Including now world famous provinces such as Mendoza and La Rioja, Argentina's Cuyo region has something of an ideal environment for the cultivation of high quality grapes – including Argentina's flagship varietal, the Malbec – which includes the beautiful Desaguadero River and its tributaries. Although the region itself is quite dry and arid, the soils have a remarkably high mineral content, and plenty of iron which gives it the distinctive red color associated with Cuyo. For several decades now, wineries in Cuyo have been booming, as more and more of the global wine audience begin to recognize the region's remarkable potential for rich and flavorful wines.
fields

Country: Argentina

It is said that the first Argentinian vines were planted in the Mendoza more than four hundred years ago by European settlers, and despite these early wines being used primarily for religious purposes, the fervor for wine making never left the area. Today, Argentina is keen to demonstrate its technological prowess when it comes to vineyard cultivation, by combining traditional methods of irrigation left over from the Huarpes Indians with modern techniques in order to make the dry, arid desert an ideal environment for growing grapes. Indeed, these ancient irrigation channels, dug hundreds of years ago and still in use today, bring mineral-rich melt water from the Andes via the Mendoza river, something which gives the grapes grown in this region some of their character. The primary grape of this and other regions of Argentina is the Malbec, which is highly susceptible to rot in its native France, but which thrives in the dry and hot climate of South America, producing rich and plummy wines which are highly drinkable especially when young.
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More Details
green grapes

Varietal: Malbec

Malbec grapes have a beautiful deep and dusty purple color, and can now be found growing in abundance in many different countries. They thrive most successfully in hot, dry southern climates, a long way from their home in native France. However, whilst many Old World wineries had and continue to have a lot of success with this flavorful grape, its susceptibility to rot and weakness against cold and damp meant that its usage began to dwindle in the countries such as France whilst it grew in the New. Malbec's thick skins lend it strong tannins, something which allows the wines produced from these grapes to hold their distinctive, astringent and full-bodied character. They also tend to be packed full of plummy, fleshy fruit-forward flavors, making them an interesting and complex grape for single variety wines, as well as an ideal grape for blending and aging.
barrel

Region: Cuyo

Situated in and around the Andean mountains, the Cuyo region of Argentina has long been associated with the best of the country's wine industry. Including now world famous provinces such as Mendoza and La Rioja, Argentina's Cuyo region has something of an ideal environment for the cultivation of high quality grapes – including Argentina's flagship varietal, the Malbec – which includes the beautiful Desaguadero River and its tributaries. Although the region itself is quite dry and arid, the soils have a remarkably high mineral content, and plenty of iron which gives it the distinctive red color associated with Cuyo. For several decades now, wineries in Cuyo have been booming, as more and more of the global wine audience begin to recognize the region's remarkable potential for rich and flavorful wines.
fields

Country: Argentina

It is said that the first Argentinian vines were planted in the Mendoza more than four hundred years ago by European settlers, and despite these early wines being used primarily for religious purposes, the fervor for wine making never left the area. Today, Argentina is keen to demonstrate its technological prowess when it comes to vineyard cultivation, by combining traditional methods of irrigation left over from the Huarpes Indians with modern techniques in order to make the dry, arid desert an ideal environment for growing grapes. Indeed, these ancient irrigation channels, dug hundreds of years ago and still in use today, bring mineral-rich melt water from the Andes via the Mendoza river, something which gives the grapes grown in this region some of their character. The primary grape of this and other regions of Argentina is the Malbec, which is highly susceptible to rot in its native France, but which thrives in the dry and hot climate of South America, producing rich and plummy wines which are highly drinkable especially when young.