Best Seller

2020 Gouchas Luján de Cuyo Carbonic Malbec

Responsibly Farmed
Hidden Gem
Geeky

This Beaujolais-inspired Malbec is exciting and oh so fresh. Fair warning, this could be your new favorite chillable red – seriously, we would drink a lot more Malbec if they all tasted like this.

Organic farming practices, hand-harvested, native yeast fermentation, natural winemaking, unfined/unfiltered, vegan-friendly, and only 1,250 cases produced.

Red
  • Tasting Notes blueberry, black cherry, cranberry ocean spray, cocoa, leather, cigar box
  • Variety Malbec
  • Region Argentina, Mendoza
  • Volume 750ml
  • Alcohol Volume 13.8%
  • Table Talk Carbonic maceration, also known as whole whole bunch fermentation makes zippy, juicy wines that we can't stop drinking.

$22.00

In stock

Lexi Jones, co-founder of Amlière Imports and Federico Vargas of Bodega Tierras Altas first crossed paths through a mutual friend and winemaker. They instantly hit it off and began exploring ideas of creating a unique partnership to highlight the well-made wine from Luján de Cuyo, as well as the hardworking women behind Bodega Tierras Altas, Argaux, and all over the world. After many months of planning, brainstorming, and vinifying, Gouchas Malbec finally came to life.

Bodega Tierras Altas is no stranger to Argentinian viticulture. For more than a century, the Arizu family has been cultivating vineyards in Luján de Cuyo, a high-altitude zone known for top-quality wines, located within Argentina’s overarching Mendoza region. The estate was first founded in 1890 by Leoncio Arziu. Over the years, the Vargas family joined him in his venture, and today, it is operated by fourth-generation winemakers of these two families.

Gouchas Malbec is a play on words and pays homage to the female gauchos of Argentina. The wine honors the strength, independence, and fortitude of the fearless cowgirls of Argentina, while also nodding to the female-led team at Argaux and Amlière Imports, who are daring to sell wine in a fresh and innovative way.

The fruit for this wine comes from the family’s farm, Finca la Linda, which means “the beauty.” The farm is cultivated at soaring altitudes of over 3,000 feet above sea level and is characterized by alluvial soils with high percentages of clay, sand, and stones. The Malbec is produced from hand-harvested fruit using carbonic maceration, a technique in which whole grapes are fermented without destemming and crushing, under an inert atmosphere (without oxygen). This fermentation does not occur by yeasts, but rather by enzymes. This technique is widely used in Beaujolais and generally produces very aromatic wines with low levels of tannins, which renders them very drinkable. Post carbonic maceration (approximately three weeks), the grapes are removed from the tank, destemmed, crushed, and traditionally fermented at low temperatures to create a light-bodied wine with high-toned aromatics. They are then aged in stainless steel tanks for 9 months until bottling with very limited sulfur addition. This is the first time that Bodega Tierras Altas has exported to the United States, and we are so proud to represent their beautiful wine in California.