malbec 2022

La Cayetana

This wine is very close to our hearts! It comes from a very old vineyard that was once owned by Gaucho Restaurants and, on buying trips of old, we were known to stay there as guests of the aforementioned. It is a small vineyard of some 7 hectares populated by ancient gnarly vines, flood irrigated and grown on sandy-clay soils. Very old school! Anyway, with the vineyard’s future uncertain, Emilia Soler was offered a portion of the 2018 fruit when it really needed to be picked before it lost its natural vitality (acidity). She took up the challenge and created a wine that is simply bottled history – no tricks, no polish, just the very heart of Mendocino Malbec at its true and honest best. Fermentation happens with natural yeasts only in a single 5,000 litre concrete vessel. It is aged in used French oak barrels of 225 litres for 12 months, then spends 8 months in bottle before release. This is a humble masterpiece, and thankfully the 2018 was not a one-off.

“At its best, few wines are more immediately, sensuously pleasurable than Mendoza Malbec. The talented Emilia Soler’s example, made from a small parcel of very old vines, is a real stunner, with a polished silky feel and a delightfully pure, subtly floral-scented fruits of the forest.”

David Williams, The Guardian

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