From Tim Atkins wine maker of the year, from one of the most highly regarded vineyards in Argentina, producing grapes with a unique and fine expression.
One of the most highly regarded modern Malbec vineyards in Argentina, Alto Los Cuises is, unusually, bush-vine Malbec planted amongst the ancient, giant cacti of El Porvenir's highest, driest rocky slopes. The resulting wine is full, with a mineral seam of texture and acidity running though the hugely floral palette. It's a remarkable, contemporary expression of Malbec that highlights the typicity and regionality possible in Argentina.
El Porvenir de Cafayate is one of Salta's premium but very affordable, high altitude wine producers. This small, family-owned winery in Cafayate, specialises in Torrontes, Malbec, Tannat and red blends from 45-50 year old vineyards which are amongst the highest in the world at 1900m asl and surrounded by 20ft, 200+ year old monster cacti. Colour in the reds here is profound due to the exposure to prolonged mountain sunlight, with soft tannins thanks in part to the extreme diurnal temperature differences... some mornings the catcti are thick with frost but within a few hours temperatures soar to the mid/high 20s! El Porvenir - “the future” has been the name of this estate since it was founded in 1890. The winery and vineyards were restored by the Romero-Marcuzzi family in the 1990s and the main team is made up of company Director, Luca Romero Marcuzzi, Winemaker Francisco 'Paco' Puga, and Agricultural Engineer Daniel Guilln, whose joint goal is to capture the essence of Cafayate's unique high altitude characters through their remarkable range of wines.
100% Malbec from El Porvenir's highest vineyard (1850 masl) situated in a ravine of the Sierra de Quilmes. Vines are immersed in an intimate environment of diverse vegetation, among palm trees, fig trees, white carob trees and a beautiful jacaranda tree. The grapes obtained from this vineyard have a character of wild herbs that are reflected in a unique wine, like the place where it comes from. Due to the extreme slope of the land, the vines are planted in an ancestral system of terraces in order to favour a natural irrigation by gravity, with melted snow from the mountains running down.
Grilled red meats cooked low and low over a traditional Argentine asado...or a BBQ will do the job too!
Produced by Tim Atkin's winemaker of the year, Paco Puga
