I’ve been planning this feature for weeks but was waiting until some key Malbecs to arrive back in Ontario. They’re here now and it’s game on! So to help keep ourselves entertained in the continued lockdown and deep-freeze we’re going to focus on the warmer climates of sunny Argentina this week.

As anybody who’s looked at a map can tell, Argentina is a huge country. And because it is so long from north to south it sees just about every kind of climate and territory possible on earth. From some of the highest mountain peaks in the world with the Andes range, to sub-tropical rainforests, arid deserts, then icebergs and penguins in the very south. And all along the way there is wine grown throughout these vast landscapes. By far the most popular region is Mendoza, where as a region they are responsible for 90% of Argentina’s production. But just because the most wine is made there doesn’t necessarily mean it is the only great place for wine production. In addition to Mendoza both Patagonia and Salta are significant wine producing regions.

Malbec is the most prolific variety in all regions, but Bonarda, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat round out some of the other popular varieties. And hot tip: Pinot Noir is actually big down south in Patagonia too. But these 3 mains regions all have fairly different terroirs and alititudes, so the expression of Malbec from each can be quite different. So to do exactly that, this week we have 4 Malbecs: 1 from Rio Negro in Patagonia, 1 from Agrelo in Mendoza, and 2 Malbecs from the Calchaqui Valley in Salta at 5’900 ft and 8’530 ft above sea level. This should be a delicious workshop exploring a the various Malbec regions and styles.

As we’ve been doing since the beginning of this winter lockdown, I’ll be hosting a Saturday evening wine tasting at 7pm featuring these wines over Zoom. And to make things even more interesting, I’ve created this March Madness, Final 4 style bracket to pit these 4 different Malbecs against each other. If you join us, you’ll taste through each match up of Malbec vs Malbec and decide which moves on to be the favourite for your tastes. Share it with us on instagram and we’ll see which was the most popular. Here’s how to participate in the Zoom:

1. Pick up any or all the bottles from the Byward Wine Market or order any by the case from Lifford.
2. Send me an email letting me know which wine you have and that you’d like to join the Zoom, and I’ll send you the credentials to join.
3. If you want to join in on the bracket, just pick up all 4 wines and download the bracket here or screen shot it from our Instagram page.
4. Here’s the link to all 4 wines if you want to purchase the bottles individually from the Byward Wine Market.

Sound good? See you Saturday at 7:00pm!
Now onto the wines….

Mendonza backdrop behind Finca Decero’s Remolinos vineyard.

FINCA DECERO, MALBEC | MENDOZA, 2017
$28 per bottle from Byward Wine Market, or $25.99 x12 from Lifford Wines
Not all wines from Mendoza are made alike, and Finca Decero drew a line in the sand back in 2000 when Swiss owner Thomas Schmidheiny wanted to create a next level Argentine winery with uncompromising quality standards to re-think a lot of the mediocre wine production at the time. Thus, ‘Finca Decero’ was born, it literally means ‘from scratch’. They went back to the drawing board, started with a blank slate and pioneered so many new quality innovations in the area…they even started planting their vines in a slightly different direction for more optimal sun exposure and protection of the grapes. Finca Decero has come to be regarded as the Cadillac of Mendoza wineries, set in the picturesque foothills of the Andes Mountains at 1050 meters elevation. Everything is grown organically, carefully harvested by hand, then sorted and re-sorted so that only the best grapes make it into the wine.

This wine perfectly marries the earthy, gritty tannic-structure that is characteristic of the Malbec grape with a more nuanced elegant floral complexity not often seen in Mendoza. “Elegant” and “floral”? But how? These aren’t words usually used to describe Malbec? The Remolinos Vineyard where the winery is located is predominantly a gravelly terroir, which gives that classic rustic earthiness that Malbec is famous for. But there are also a few veins of sandy soil that runs through this vineyard on which Malbec is also planted. Years ago, they noticed a big difference in the wines from Malbec grown on those two different soils and began vinifying them separately and blending them together before bottling. The Malbec grown on the sandy soil was still a big wine, but much more delicate, pretty, and floral. So every year they blend a little bit of the Malbec grown on sandy soil into the majority gravel grown Malbec for the perfect package of dark fruit, earth, and muscular tannins, topped off with a refining floral complexity that jumps out of the glass. I visited the winery in 2012 and did some of this blending myself. It was absolutely amazing what the gravel and sand Malbecs tasted like separately, and how good they tasted when combined.

Amalaya winemaker in their estate vineyard against the Andes

AMALAYA, MALBEC | SALTA, 2019
$23 per bottle at Byward Wine Market, or $19.99 x12 from Lifford Wines
Salta is the oldest winemaking area in Argentina. Spaniards originally came to what is now Argentina over the Andes through Peru. So the northern cities predate the more famous southeastern capitals like Buenos Aires. Accordingly, it’s where the oldest wineries are located as well. Amalaya (pronounced Ama-lie-zia) means ‘hope for a miracle’ in the native language, and it’s referring to the miracle of grapes growing in the hot desert of the Calchaqui Valley. The terroir here is insanely beautiful. The landscape in any direction is a blend of Andes peaks or Utah/Arizona style monuments and cliffs of magnesium rich, rocky, sandy, red soil. The main town in the valley is called Cafayate, and it is the most handsome Spanish Colonial style village with a large town square and wide streets and sidewalks. It’s main industry is wine and tourism, so it is also an appropriately artsy and foodie little town. And it might also be the most secluded wine region in the world. We almost died twice getting there in 2012, once with a near plane crash at the foggy Salta mountain airport when their instruments were out; then again a day later when we just missed a rolling boulder that knocked out half of the mountain road we were driving through the rainforest from Tucuman where our flight was diverted to. But I’d do it all over again for another trip to this very special place.

One thing that makes this wine a bit different from the rest is that it has 10% Tannat and 5% Petit Verdot blended in. Owner Donald Hess (of Hess Collection in Napa Valley) started Amalaya as an experiment for blends in Argentine wines. In this case the 85% Malbec carries the vast majority of the flavour profile and structure but the Tannat and Petit Verdot add some more tannin and aromatic lift. Amalaya is right on the edge of Cafayate nestled quite literally up against the steep cliffs of the Andes at 5’900 ft above sea. That is one of the highest vineyards in the world, and keep in mind this is towards the lowest part of the Calchaqui Valley…it only gets more extreme from there! It is slightly fresher in style with strawberry and raspberry flavours layered with pepper, spices, and vanilla notes. A big wine, but also versatile and smooth, nicely drinkable on its own.

El Arnenal vineyard at 8500 ft, second highest vineyard in the world.

BODEGA COLOMÉ, ‘EL ARENAL’ MALBEC | SALTA, 2018
$40 per bottle at Byward Wine Market, or $34.99 x6 from Lifford Wines
Bodega Colomé has the duel distinction of being both the oldest operating winery in Argentina (since 1831) and having the highest vineyards in the world. Colomé’s ‘Altura Maxima’ vineyard is at 10’207 ft above sea level. This particular Malbec isn’t from that vineyard, but it’s from their 2nd highest vineyard ‘El Arena’…which would be the 2nd highest vineyard in the world. There is nothing quite like these vineyards that are all nestled among the cacti, desert cliffs, and snowy mountain peaks. This was the project that inspired Donald Hess to invest in Argentina. For some added context, see attached chart of other international ‘high altitude’ wine regions for comparison. This is quite literally the most extreme viticulture on edge of possiblity, and absolutely unique in the world. Had we tried visiting a day earlier, it may have been our 3rd near-death experience in Argentina when one of the few annual rainfalls created flash flooding in the mountains and washed out the only road in and out of Colomé. Such a long way to go, to only get to an hour from Colomé just to turn around and head back to Cafayate.

International high altitude wine regions, by comparison.

The vines are grown at such high altitudes that they have adapted to give the grapes thicker skins. This is because the sun and UV exposure is so much greater at this altitude that these already thick-skinned varietals have evolved to have even thicker skins in adapting to their unique terroir. Additionally, the climate is much cooler at that altitude. The peaks there are covered in snow, it’s 10’000 ft or 3km high, it’s very cool. But it’s also above the clouds, getting unencumbered sunlight and ripening, but all the while maintaining a cool climate balance. This results in more tannin, darker colour, and subsequently more flavour extraction from those skins. These are big, dark, dense, dry, and earthy wines. Everything is done organically and biodynamically. It’s fermented with wild indigenous yeast. Minimal intervention winemaking with no additives aside from small amount of sulphates. It’s aged 24 months in older neutral-oak barrels, meant to showcase the pure, high-altitude terroir of these wines. Look for notes of blackberries, cocoa, dark chocolate, earth, and black tea. This might be worth decanting if you’re drinking now, and it will certainly age nicely for at least 15 years.

Rio Negro running through Patagonia’s vineyards.

HUMBERTO CANALE, ‘ESTATE’ MALBEC | PATAGONIA
$23 per bottle at Byward Wine Market, or $19.99 x12 from Lifford Wines
Not the oldest winery in all of Argentina, but definitely the oldest in Patagonia. Humberto Canale winery was started in 1909, so we’re talking about pioneers with 112 years of experience in the region. Patagonia is just as striking a landscape as Salta, but in a completely different way. This is a like a vast desert oasis near the foothills of the Andes that was made possible by the Rio Negro (the Black River) which winds through the region, giving it life. Because it’s a desert, it’s really warm during the day, and very cold at night. This temperature swing (or diurnal range) is what helps this region create wines of such elegance. If the high altitude wines of Mendoza and Salta create the powerful, more muscular wines, Patagonia creates more balanced and finessed wines.

The Rio Negro region is located in kind of the upper middle Patagonia, that is to say, we’re not talking like penguin and iceberg territory here. There is still plenty of hot sunny weather during the days to ripen Malbec to full maturity. And while it may not have the altitude of Cafayate to help achieve balance, it maintains some nice acidity from the cold desert nights. People often see this as a smoother, less angular, or edgy Malbec. On top of that it also sees about 8 months in French and American oak barrels that add some vanilla and smokey nuances that really compliment the dark fruit, eucalyptus, dried spices and black peppercorn notes. A concentrated and smooth body.

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The Byward Wine Market will remain open throughout the lockdown for take-out and wine shopping. We are constantly cleaning and have several ways to safely get you some amazing wine during the coming stay-home orders: You can stop by in person to pick out your wine for take-out, we can offer curbside pickup with online orders, or you can choose local delivery within Ottawa at the online checkout.

Just a reminder that the order deadline for Friday case delivery is Wednesday at 9:00am. Reach out if you have any questions, and check out the archive of past FEATURES if you’re interested in other recommendations. Lastly, please feel free to forward this to anyone in Ontario who may be interested in home wine delivery and follow us on Instagram for daily wine content at @bywardwinemarket and @capitalwine.ottawa!