Vinyes Ocults, Malbec, 2022, Mendoza, Argentina

£31.35

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Region	Mendoza	Country	Argentina
Type	Red	Grape	Malbec
Style	Fresh & juicy	ABV	14.2%
Closure	Cork	Method	Organic, Low sulfite

This outstanding Malbec competes with bottles twice the price and “leaves the tongue thirsty for more,” according to Vinous. Don’t miss it.

About the wine

Bold, unapologetic, and dangerously easy to drink—good luck stopping at one glass. Massive diurnal swings here in the high desert allow the grapes to reach huge phenolic ripeness basking in the daytime sunshine, while chilly nights preserve their fresh, natural acids. Black and burly, Malbec is perfectly suited to this arid climate, which turns severity in the vineyard into svelte concentration in the glass.

Tasting notes

Aromas of fresh plum, cherry, violets, and country herbs, with a touch of spice from aging. The palate is fruit-forward with gentle, rounded tannins, lifted by juicy freshness.

About the winemaker

In the late 2000s, word started getting around about a garagiste in Argentina whose wines were making waves despite there being hardly any bottles to speak of. That winemaker was Tomás Stahringer. Vinyes Ocults was conceived as a garage winery.

Quality sets these wines apart, but also a winemaking philosophy that borders on mysticism, signaled by the image of a grinning skull that leers from his wine labels. He sees wine as a living thing animated by the vineyard spirits that gave it life: the Andean glacial melt that refreshes the vines, the years of winegrowing knowledge that shaped the vineyard, and the people who tirelessly worked the land. This sensitivity to the environment and the grape informs his golden touch, which brings an elegance and balance seldom seen in bargain-priced wines.

Vinyes ocults means “hidden vineyard” in Catalan, and while the sites Stahringer draws from might be concealed by poplar trees, it’s not much of a mystery why they turn out such superb wines. Massive diurnal swings here in the high desert allow the grapes to reach huge phenolic ripeness basking in the daytime sunshine, while chilly nights preserve their fresh, natural acids.