Achaval-Ferrer - Argentine

Robb Report :
« Established in 1998, this partnership between a group of Argentinean businessmen, led by Santiago Achaval Becu, and Italian winemaker Roberto Cipresso, who makes the La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino, has become something of an overnight legend among wine aficionados. Though a young producer, Achaval — Ferrer’s Finca Altamira vineyard contains Malbec vines up to 80 years old ; the sandy soil and high altitude (3,600 feet above sea level) result in dense, darkly concentrated wines with sweet, smoky, herbal notes. »

Wine & Spirit :
« The pig had escaped from its sty and was in the middle of the abandoned vineyard, eating the sweet young grapes. All around it, the vineyard was in ruins. with abandoned cars and farm equipment piled along the bank of the Tunuyán river, the twisted old malbec vines about to fall to the ground. « This is precisely what we werw not looking for, » Santiago Achával said to his partners as they drove past the vineyards. But the truth is -it’s exactly what they needed. A couple of days earlier, Roberto Cipresso, the renowned Italian consultant in charge of the Achaval Ferrer wines, had been there and had tasted the fruit from thet vineyard – just over 13 acres of vines planted in the early 20th century. He left without any trace of doubt : They had to buy it. « So that’s what we did, » says Achaval, smiling a bit ironically. The first Finca Altamira harvest took place just a few days the spooting of the grapeeating pig in 1999. It produced 3,500 bottles, enough for Achával Ferrer to show that malbec could have a deep sense of place. From that point, they added two more wines from vineyards that are now at the top of the winery’s pyramid : Mirador and Bellavista. Mirador grows at an altitude 1,100 feet below in the Medrano area. The soils at Mirador are more fertile and the climate a bit warmer, factors that make this the most approachable of the Achaval Ferrer estate wines. If Altamira is tension and strength. Mirador is all fruit and ripeness, more lush and broad. It’s less a stylistic difference than is it an expression of two different sites, which is what Achával Ferrer wines are all about. »

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate :
« Achaval Ferrer makes my short list of Argentina’s top producers of Malbec. My longevity estimates are conservative because these wines have no track record ; my experience with wines this impeccably balanced and rich is that they will continue on for 25 years and more. Let’s hope purchasers can muster the patience to cellar some of these wines for the requisite time. »