Achaval-Ferrer Malbec Finca Bella Vista Mendoza Argentina 2011
(Wine Advocate Score 95) The 2011 Malbec Finca Bella Vista is from Perdriel (where they have the winery) at 985 meters above sea level, on the south bank of the Mendoza River. The soils are deep, with abundant gravel. This seems much more subtle and elegant than the Mirador, with finesse and ample fine tannins, the medium-bodied palate is precise, a little incisive, with good acidity. This is concentrated and smooth, powerful and elegant. Drink 2014-2024.
Bella Vista is home to our winery; it is open and spacious and is the reflection of the immensity of the Mendoza River. It is distinguished by its soothing features and finely meshed texture. It is elegant and aromatic with an endless finish and a juicy acidity that stands out.
Aerated pump-overs with soft sprinkling of the cap, followed by pressing at the end of and up to 4 days after fermentation as determined by daily tasting results. No ltering. Cold soaks, acid correction, bleed-offs and addition of enzymes were not used during vinification. Fermented in cement tanks at a maximum temperature up to 93-95oF with extensive pumping over for better extraction. 15 months in new (100%) French Oak Barrels.
| Winery | Achaval-Ferrer |
|---|---|
| Country | Argentina |
| Region | Mendoza |
| Wine Type | Red Wine |
| Grape variety | Malbec |
| Bottle Size | Bottle |
| Vintage | 2011 |
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Achaval-Ferrer is among the best in Argentina focusing on Malbec, releasing a range of outstanding single vineyard Malbec. Achaval-Ferrer is prestiged to have some of the oldest Malbec vines in Argentina of over 100 years old. These extremely old vines produce wines with deeper colours, more flavour intensity, higher acidity and great ageing potential. To respect and preserve the terroir, there is minimal intervention in winemaking to allow maximum expression of terroir.
Achaval-Ferrer had originally been founded by a group of Argentinian and Italian friends from various walks of life, businessmen who loved wine, inspired by their friend the celebrated Italian oenologist Roberto Cipresso. Immediately enthralled by the potential here, in high altitude Mendoza, Roberto’s enthusiasm was infectious and his colleagues became similarly captivated. Their ambition was simple yet monumentally audacious, namely, to make a world-class wine in Argentina. Against all odds, these very obvious pioneers and innovators put the wines of Achaval-Ferrer on the map.
From the outset the wines received many plaudits, ultimately capturing the interest of external investors. A deal was struck and now, with the security of extra funding, Achaval-Ferrer enjoys the luxury of a state of the art winery manned by a new young team which is just as passionate about the Achaval wines as the founders. The original protagonists gradually scaled down their time with the company as they moved on to new, personal projects, ensuring a watertight handover before their departure.
It is wonderful to be working with people so steeped in the world of wine with a sense of place. The winemaker, Gustavo Rearte, has been at AchavalFerrer since 2013 so he had the good fortune to have both Roberto Cipresso and Santiago Achaval to guide him. In addition, he has had previous international experience in New Zealand and California.
In overall charge we have Portuguese-born oenologist Manuel Louzada. He lives and operates a sister winery in Spain but spends a great deal of time in Argentina, particularly over the harvest period. He lived and worked in Argentina for ten years, as winemaker, running Chandon sparkling wine and Cheval des Andes, so knows the territory well. Independently, he was a private customer of the wines of Achaval-Ferrer from the very beginning. He has always used Finaca Altamira as a benchmark with which to judge other wines. The new sales director Julio Lasmartes is also from a winemaking family.
The changes to Achaval-Ferrer of old may well be profound but the fundamental principles of the company are as important as before – stronger perhaps – reinforced by renewed confidence.
The wines will continue to come from the same lowyielding, ancient, un-grafted vines - high altitude sites - overseen by viticulturalist Leopoldo Gomez, alongside Manuel Louzada. Goals are absolute quality, a very pure expression of Malbec, and vibrancy and freshness across all of the wines.
