Vina Alicia Las Compuertas Malbec 2011

VEGAN FRIENDLY!
These are purple colored wines that are alcoholic, capable of aging very well, possessing a hint of sweetness and spices. Given time, they open up to complexity and depth of aromas. A combination of fresh fruit, sugar and subtlety, and even some touch of stone and minerals can be found. Mocha, fig, honey and sour cherries. The taste is precise and forceful, filling the mouth with elegance.
92 pts James Suckling
Earthy and intense with dried meat, yet it remains fresh and stylish. Full body, silky tannins and a flavorful finish. All there. Decadent style.
88 pts Stephen Tanzer’s IWC (ST)
Bright red-ruby. Raspberry and coffee aromas are dulled by a whiff of walnut oak. Suave, mellow and fine-grained but where’s the verve and primary fruit? Finishes a tad dry.
88 pts Robert Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate (LG)
The 2011 Malbec is sourced from the same vineyard as the Paso de Piedra, but they keep lower yields to between one and three bunches per plant. The grapes fermented in inox, did malolactic in new French oak barrels and aged for 12 months in new and used barrels. The blackberry aromas are intermixed with spicy notes of vanilla, nutmeg and black pepper. The palate is concentrated and the wine fills the mouth in an elegant and serious way with complexity. The tannins are round, and it could be drunk now, but it will improve in bottle. Drink 2014-2018.
Harvest – This is manually performed, using 12 to 14 kilo plastic cages, to ward against berry damage and protect from contamination. At this stage, two bunch selections have been practiced: the first after flowering and the second when the fruit colored, to discard misshapen, imperfect or insufficiently colored bunches. Only the better exposed, fully ripe and sunkissed berries are harvested. Winery Arrival – Upon arrival at the winery, the third selection of fruit bunches is carried out manually over special tables to separate immature grapes, dry or withered, before proceeding to remove stems. This operation is performed by a machine placed across the opening of the fermentation vessel. Winery Method – A cold maceration is allowed for two days before the onset of fermentation. Only then does alcoholic fermentation begin, thanks to the region’s natural yeasts that bestow terroir character. An extensive maceration follows to enable thorough tannin and polyphenol extraction, crucial for wine longevity. During fermentation 2 to 3 daily mixings are made, with squeezing, to favor transference of these elements to the wine. All these operations are done in a very careful, gentle way. Casking – Once alcoholic fermentation ends, the wine is set in new French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. When this stage concludes, casks are cleaned and wine is kept in the same ones for 12 more months. Bottling – The wine is kept 60 days in a “cold chamber” at very low temperature for stablilization. Then is bottled without filtering, and remains at less 12 months in bottle before being released to the market.