Altos Las Hormigas Mendoza Tinto 2022
This wine has an alluring bright ruby colour. On the nose, ripe red fruit stands out. Raspberry and cherry notes are complemented by herbal hints of eucalyptus and menthol alongside pink pepper and chamomile. On the palate, this wine has a balanced acidity, and along spicy finish.
This wine isa blend of the three traditional Mendoza grapes, widely planted and blended before varietally labelled wines came into fashion. While Malbec and Bonarda continue to be the two most planted varieties in Mendoza, Semillon has fallen out of favour, with only 728 hectares left in 2017. In spite of this, winemaker Alberto Antonini believes Semillon is the most suitable white varietal for Mendoza, as it retains its natural acidity in the dry, sunny climate. Grapes for this wine come mainly from vineyards in Luján de Cuyo, with a small percentage coming from Medrano. The region has a semi-desert climate with hot days and cool nights. Soils in Luján de Cuyo have good water drainage and a fine silt-sandy texture. In soils such as these, vines put down deep roots, helping them resist heat waves, which are common during the summer in Mendoza.
The grapes were harvested by hand and a careful, double sorting process took place before fermentation. The Malbec and Semillon grapes were co-fermented, while the Bonarda was vinified separately before the final blend. Fermentation was carried out in separate stainless-steel tanks at a temperature between 24-26°C for 10 days. Only indigenous yeasts were used. Each tank was tasted twice a day to determine what was needed. The wine was then aged for nine months in concrete vats to add roundness to the blend. No oak was used.
Friends and business partners Alberto Antonini and Antonio Morescalchi first visited Mendoza in 1995 and were instantly impressed by the vineyards they discovered. Nearly three decades later, the estate they founded, Altos Las Hormigas, has gone from being a youthful dream to one of the country’s leading producers.
Alberto and Antonio work very closely with Pedro Parra (widely regarded as the world’s leading expert on soil and vineyard mapping) to identify the best vineyard sites to grow their grapes. As a result, they have discovered outstanding sites across Mendoza and aim to show the distinct character of each through their wines. From Luján de Cuyo they obtain fine tannins, concentration and a dark purple colour, whereas the calcareous, high-elevation sites of Vistaflores, Altamira and Gualtallary each bring distinctive perfumes and mouth-filling textures.
In 2020, Federico Gambetta was appointed winemaker and by 2021, he was producing 100-point wines, propelling this highly respected winery into a new era. A combination of biodynamic farming, minimal intervention in the winery, as well as Alberto and Antonio’s relentless experimentation and desire to produce Argentina's best wines, has given Altos its reputation as one of the country’s leading Malbec specialists.
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