Malbec “La Brava” 2020 – Bodega Colomé “Lote Especial”

The fruit to produce the Malbec “La Brava” Bodega Colomé “Lote Especial” was hand harvested before going through an optical selection process and a four day period of cold maceration. Fermentation took place in stainless-steel tanks with indigenous yeasts at 24 degrees, with twice daily, gentle pump-overs. There was then an extended period of maceration of 30 days before ageing in 225-litre French oak barrels, of which 25% are new, for 12 months.

The 11 hectare La Brava vineyard in Cafayate, is located at 1,750 metres above sea level and is planted to Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, Bonarda and Torrontés. The Malbec vines are over 20 years old. Soils are sandy and rocky producing wines with delicate red fruits and soft tannins.

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.