Terrazas de Los Andes Reserva Malbec 2018 (Argentina) - Wine Review

Ahead of Malbec World Day celebrations that will be held on Sunday, April 17th this year, tonight's red wine review is this lovely Malbec that arrived at the LCBO a couple of months ago in the February 5 LCBO VINTAGES Release, with plenty available across the Ontario.

Established in 1996 with 35 years of winemaking experience, the story of Terrazas de Los Andes actually began when the current winery was built in 1898 by Sotero Arizu, one of the pioneers in the production and commercialization of Argentinian wines. The winery is located in the heart of Perdriel, at the foot of the impressive Andes mountain range, while the majority of their vineyards are situated in the heart of Mendoza's Luján de Cuyo and Uco Valley, surrounded by the high peaks of the Andes. The scarcity of the high-altitude climate with its low rainfall, rocky soil, and lack of organic elements in the ground, forces the vines to work hard for hydration and nutrients, resulting in grapes that are vivid and intense. The high-altitude also means warm, sunny days for grapes to flourish, and cool nights that slow down the ripening process. Each variety is cultivated on terraced vineyards at a specific altitude to optimize the grape's purest expression.

While Terrazas has quite a few vineyards spread out over 925 km across Argentina, their oldest is the Las Compuertas vineyard in Luján de Cuyo that was planted in 1929 at 1,070 metres (3,500 feet) to produce the ultimate expression of Malbec. The land characteristics of each vineyard is carefully studied to determine which grapes are most suitable. Furthermore, each parcel of land is segmented into sub-blocks to precisely consider the slightest variations so they can adapt and improve viticultural practises. This process allows Terrazas to achieve the best quality of each micro-terroir to optimize fruit expression and wine precision.

Today, the Terrazas de Los Andes project is owned by luxury brand LVMH, with fruit coming their own 500 hectares of vineyards. This Malbec is from Terrazas' Reserva range of wines - their signature style that aims to be consistent, layered, and generous. The Reserva range offers a panoramic picture of their high elevation terroirs in Mendoza, while also delivering a consistent expression of each varietal, vintage after vintage.

This regional blend of 100% Malbec is crafted using their own grapes located in vineyards aged between 15 to 90 years old across Mendoza in Las Compuertas (Luján de Cuyo), Paraje Altamira, Eugenio Bustos Los Chacayes and Gualtallary (Uco Valley) at altitudes between 1,020 - 1,250 metres (3,346 - 4,101 feet) above sea level. The grapes were hand-harvested, cluster de-stemmed, and only slightly crushed. After fermentation, 40% of the wine was aged in 4th use French oak barrels for 12 months.

The 2018 harvest was marked by a temperate and dry spring, followed by a warm January with temperatures above the norm in the lower areas and similar to the average in the higher zones, while autumn was very even and mild, allowing the grapes to be harvested at optimum maturity. Overall, the memorable 2018 growing season was a return to normality with excellent grape quality. Uco Valley was a stand out with very good natural acidity. Temperature conditions and exceptional thermal amplitudes helped to obtain fresh and healthy fruit with very good concentration of colour and coarse skins, all of which produce very high quality wines. Let's see how this 2018 Malbec from Mendoza is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

TERRAZAS DE LOS ANDES RESERVA MALBEC 2018 - Mendoza, Argentina (#29280) (XD) - $19.95
The fresh, medium-high intensity nose offers lovely aromas of freshly crushed dark berries, blackberry, violets, and savoury earthy, stony minerality notes. It's medium-full bodied on the ripe, chewy palate with more dark berry, blackberry, violets, dried herb, and earthy mineral characters on the flavour profile. Showing a touch of warmth at this stage, but still balanced, while the acids are fresh and juicy. Smooth tannins have a fine, dusty texture. Minerally with violet, dark berry, and subtle oak notes linger on the long finish. Recommended buy to drink now. Score: 89 pts

Other lovely wines by Terrazas de Los Andes can be ordered through their Agent - Charton Hobbs.