It has been an action packed week at the Vines of Mendoza with our first harvest, wine camp and one of our favorite bodegas for our weekly Winemaker Night. On hand were Santiago Achaval and winemaker Roberto Cipresso presenting wines that you can’t even find in the market- we were all super spoiled! It was an amazing event and we tasted the 2007 Achaval Ferrer Malbec, the 2007 Quimera, the 2007 Mirador and my personal favorite, the 2007 Finca Bella Vista.
The Bella Vista has a special place in my heart because when I arrived in Mendoza over 3 years ago, I fell in love with this single vineyard Malbec but then they ran out and I have had to wait for it again until now due to the fact that the 2005 and 2006 were not produced because of hail damage to the vineyard.
All the wines were standouts with rich complexity, layered nuances and hearty yet silky tannins. With subtle differences between the wines you could pick out the varietals in the Quimera, which means perfect blend, and the terroir differences between the Mirador and the Bella Vista, which are both 100% Malbec wines. You should watch for these wines and scoop them up if you can get them!
Santiago was also recently profiled for his winemaking efforts in the Wall Street Journal, who compared the two worlds of wine that seem to exist in Argentina- locals vs. foreign investment. The article by Matt Kramer states:
Far more miniaturist, and ultimately more predictive of the future arc of Argentina’s fine-wine trajectory, are artisanal wineries such as Achával Ferrer and Viña Alicia. Both are in the Luján de Cuyo zone, which lies only 10 miles south of the city of Mendoza.
Proof of this is found in the dazzlingly complex Malbec wines of Achával Ferrer. Started with several partners in 1998 by Santiago Achával Becú, 49, Achával Ferrer is arguably Argentina’s first “cult” winery, commanding prices in excess of $100 a bottle in both the U.S. and Argentina.
The Achával Ferrer winery is a modest facility in both size and style. “Our winery was built from steel parts we acquired from a factory that was being torn down,” Mr. Achával Becú said proudly. “We got the material—beams, spiral steel staircases, you name it—for the scrap price.”
Mr. Achával Becú is a good businessman—he has an MBA from Stanford—but it’s his you-can’t-fake-it passion for discovering and nurturing vineyards of old Malbec vines that sets him apart. His most collectible wines are his three single-vineyard-designated Malbecs, all boasting vines 80 to 100 years old. They’re compelling red wines of pipe-organ depth and power without excessive alcohol or overripeness.
