El Esteco 1946 Old Vines Malbec 2019 (Argentina) - Wine Review

Tonight's red wine review is a lovely, organic, old vines Malbec from the Calchaquí Valley in northwestern Argentina. New to the LCBO, this red wine arrived on shelves across Ontario last weekend as part of the October 16 LCBO VINTAGES Release.

Founded in 1892, El Esteco is one of the first institutions in Argentina to master the art of viticulture and winemaking. They are located in the Calchaquí Valleys in northwestern Argentina, a natural landscape carved by the sun, mountains, and vineyards. With nearly 1,000 acres of vineyards at an ideal altitude of more than 1,700 metres (5,500 feet) above sea level, abundant sunshine and perfect temperature range, the environment is perfect for the creation of high-end wines.

Within the Valleys, El Esteco has a presence in famous Cafayate, as well as the little-known and unique sub-region of Chañar Punco. Cafayate is the heart of Calchaquí Valleys, a region that was seemingly unsuitable for grape-growing, but is an isolated stretch of desert with unique features that make it ideal to grow the highest vineyards in the world. In addition to plenty of sunshine and a high diurnal temperature range between night and day, it is the desert climate with its poor soils that makes this small region unique. The resulting wines are distinctive and elegant with great concentration of colour, deep aromas, and well-defined flavours.

This red wine comes from El Esteco's Old Vines range of wines that pay homage to the life and history of some of their 50+ year-old vineyards which live in perfect harmony with the terroir of Cafayate, in the province of Salta, with minimum human intervention and yield exceptional wines. The Malbec grapes for this wine are from the Las Mercedes estate, home to 370 pergola-trained Malbec vines whose origins can be traced back to more than 65 years ago. Once the grapes reach optimum ripeness levels in the vineyards, the grapes are manually harvested in the early hours of the morning and brought to the vineyard and sorted, then placed into ovoid 3,000 L vats for fermentation. Upon completion of fermentation, the wine is unfiltered and aged in bottle for 6 to 8 months prior to release. Let's see how this Old Vines Malbec is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

EL ESTECO 1946 OLD VINES MALBEC 2019 - Valles Calchaquíes, Argentina (#19391) (XD) - $24.95
Raised entirely in concrete eggs, this lovely Malbec has a medium-high intensity nose that offers distinctive earthy, savoury, spicy, and stony mineral aromas accented by dark berry, blackberry, and dried spice notes. The medium-full bodied, chewy palate is tangy and slightly plummy with dark berry, blackberry, stony mineral, dried spice, and white pepper flavours which are supported by juicy acidity and ripe, fine-grained, and slightly chalky tannins. Fine mineral and savoury notes with a hint of plum linger on the finish, with very good length. Recommended buy! Score: 90 pts

Other lovely wines from El Esteco are available through their Agent - Dandurand.