Malbec “Auténtico” Salta 2016 – Bodega Colomé “Estate Series” (1,5L)

The grapes to produce the Malbec “Auténtico” Salta Bodega Colomé “Estate Series” were sorted in the vineyard and again by the optical sorting table before they underwent four days of cold maceration. 90% of the wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks, with very gentle twice daily punch downs. There was an extended maceration time of 35 to 40 days in order to build the body of the wine, and only the free run juice is used in the production of Auténtico. The remaining 10% was fermented with indigenous yeasts in concrete eggs, with no punch downs and a shorter maceration time of 15 days. The wine was then aged for 10 months before bottling and a further 10 months in bottle before being released.

The fruit for this wine comes from 90 year old vines in the Colomé vineyard, which is 2,300 metres in altitude. The vines are trained in the vertical shoot positioning system and planted on complex soils with layers of gravel, clay, granite and alluvial material. The altitude of the Upper Calchaquí Valley has a signficant impact on the quality and concentration of the fruit produced. The high altitude means grapes are more exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which causes them to develop thicker and darker skins to protect themselves from sunburn.

Bodega Colomé was established in 1831 and is the oldest working winery in Argentina with one of the world’s highest vineyards. The winery is located in the far north of Argentina in the Upper Calchaquí Valley and is thought to have been founded by the Spanish Governor of Salta, Nicolás Severo de Isasmendi y Echalar. In 1854 his daughter, Ascensión, brought the first pre-phylloxera Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon vines to Bodega Colomé. Although these early efforts were pioneering at the time, it was when Swiss entrepreneur Donald Hess (of Hess Collection, Napa Valley fame) bought Bodega Colomé in 2001 that it underwent the greatest transformation. Today, the winery has 140 hectares of biodynamically-run vineyards planted at altitudes of between 1,750 and 3,111 metres above sea level. French winemaker Thibaut Delmotte has been at the helm since 2005, his winemaking philosophy includes minimal intervention, the use of indigenous yeasts in fermentations and restrained use of oak, so that it never overwhelms the characteristic freshness and the purity of fruit of all of the Bodega Colomé wines.