Malbec Reserve Uco Valley 2018 – Altos Las Hormigas

The grapes to produce the Malbec Reserve Uco Valley Altos Las Hormigas were very carefully sorted, destemmed and crushed. The juice was fermented using indigenous yeasts and very gentle pigeage was undertaken in order to avoid over extraction. The wine was matured in 3,500 litre untoasted, French oak foudres for 18 months, and spent a further 12 months maturing in bottle before release.

The Malbec grapes for this wine are hand picked from high-density vineyards planted on calcareous soils with alluvial deposits in the Uco Valley. The wine is a blend of fruit from sites in Altamira and the highlands of Gualtallary. Yields are low – around 6 tonnes per hectare. 

The Altos Las Hormigas Estate born when the two friends and business partners Alberto Antonini and Antonio Morescalchi were impressed by Mendoza’s vineyards on their first visit in 1995 where they purchased 206 hectares (530 acres) in the rural township of Lujan de Cuyo. Alberto and Antonio work very closely with Pedro Parra (widely regarded as the South American expert on soil and vineyard mapping) in order to identify the best locations to grow their grapes. Their never-ending experimentation and desire to produce the best wines that Argentina can offer, has made Altos Las Hormigas a Malbec specialist, with a reputation as one of the country’s top producers of this variety.