Vina Alicia Las Compuertas Malbec 2014
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.
90 pts Robert Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate (RP) – The 2014 Las Compuertas Malbec is sourced from selected plots of their 15-hectare organically farmed vineyard in Las Compuertas at 1,300 meters in altitude that has ungrafted old vines planted at high density—5,000 plants per hectare. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and had a long maceration after a cold soak; it aged for 12 months in new French oak barrels and was racked three or four times. It’s very classical and has some developed aromas of brick dust, paprika and smoke over a core of ripe fruit, with some elegant rusticity. It has the house style with polished, elegant tannins and is round and approachable, as they like to release the wines when they are ready to drink.
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.
