2020 Aluvional Gualtallary Malbec

The 2020 Malbec Aluvional Gualtallary from the Uco Valley was fermented and aged in concrete vats. Purple in the glass. The enticing primary nose presents thyme, violet, balsamic and ripe plum aromas. Potent and juicy with chalky, finely-grained tannins, the fleshy palate lingers at length before the grapefruit-inflected finish. The 2020 is a terroir-driven red with the intensity and restrained character often found in high-altitude vineyards.

Deep, vibrant ruby-purple, with gunsmoke reduction on the first nose. Make sure you wait a little for the wine to really open up, enjoy the pause and the building of expectation. High floral aromatics, and clear tannic grip setting the pace, with fresh acidities emphasising crab apple, blackcurrant, black cherry, rosemary, fennel, citrus peel, and juicy quince. This is deft and precise, fairly short maceration up to 18 days (used to do cold soaking, but stopped because winemaker-owner Sebastian Zuccardi wants to reduce any impact of cellar work on taste). Vineyard with two sites totalling 70ha in Tupungato Alto in Gualtallary. They keep whole bunch fermentation to no more than 50% with this botlting because there are naturally more tannins in this site - all part of the decision-making process during growing season and winemaking to keep things as hands off as possible.

The 2020 Aluvional Gualtallary is more floral and expressive, a little more exuberant than the 2019 I tasted next to it. In 2020, they harvested some 10 days earlier than in 2019 (they started in February!), and the wines finished with similar alcohol levels (14%) and even with a slightly lower pH and higher acidity in 2020, so with very good freshness. They fermented with some 30% to 50% of stems in the vinification (they use grapes from three different vineyards that are vinified separately, all in the Monasterio part of Gualtallary) and matured the wine in concrete. This is very young, and the palate reveals the inner notes of thyme and rockrose, the violets and the small berries. The texture is akin to liquid chalk, a mineral and austere wine, with very fine tannins and a long, dry finish. 9,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2021.