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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
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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

The historic mountainous region of Cuyo in central-west Argentina, remains the nation's key wine producing area to this day, producing over eighty percent of the country's wines. Argentinian wines have gone from strength to strength over the past few decades, and it is undoubtedly the region of Cuyo which produces Argentina's most characterful and representative wines. Cuyo's dry and arid soil, rich in iron and other minerals has proven to be an ideal environment for the cultivation of Malbec grapes, alongside several other varietals which thrive in the hot climate and reach full ripeness each autumn, expressing their fruit-forward character. The vineyards of Cuyo are fed by the great Desaguadero River and its tributaries, helped by the extensive irrigation projects which have been undertaken over the past century.
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

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

The historic mountainous region of Cuyo in central-west Argentina, remains the nation's key wine producing area to this day, producing over eighty percent of the country's wines. Argentinian wines have gone from strength to strength over the past few decades, and it is undoubtedly the region of Cuyo which produces Argentina's most characterful and representative wines. Cuyo's dry and arid soil, rich in iron and other minerals has proven to be an ideal environment for the cultivation of Malbec grapes, alongside several other varietals which thrive in the hot climate and reach full ripeness each autumn, expressing their fruit-forward character. The vineyards of Cuyo are fed by the great Desaguadero River and its tributaries, helped by the extensive irrigation projects which have been undertaken over the past century.
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.