El Esteco Malbec

90 Points Wine Spectator

Wine Profile

food pairing

Great with traditional Argentine red meat dishes as well as hard cheeses and smoked cold cuts.

 

other notes

With over 1500 acres of vineyards standing at 5500-6600 feet above sea level, Michel Torino is the most important winery in the Cafayate Valley of Argentina. All of the Michel Torino wines are hand-harvested in the estate's own vineyards. Additionally, Andrés Höy, Torino's production manager, practices sustainable, environmentally- friendly farming by minimizing the use of fertilizers and chemicals in the vineyard. The unique Cafayete climate manifests itself in the elegant, focused profile of Michel Torino's wines. These are wines with an indelible sense of place, wines which complement food rather than overpower, wines which are true to their origin.

production notes

The El Esteco range of wines is oriented to have a personality of great finesse and complexity. Concentrated bunches of small grains are manually harvested early in the morning and put into small bins of 18 kg. Pre-fermentative maceration at 5°C in stainless steel tanks and gentle treatments are carried out during alcoholic fermentation. Utilization of both native and selected yeasts for the fermentation process. Post fermentative maceration total 25 days. Natural malolactic fermentation is carried in both american and french barrels of first, second and third use. Finalizing this process the wine is aged in both American and French barrels for 12 months. A careful selection of barrels is made, looking for light toasted oak in order to accentuate the freshness of the fruit. The wine is bottled unfiltered, and kept at the winery during 6 months.

ratings

Wine Spectator

Minerally, with dense yet refined flavors of dried red berry, currant and hot stone that are bounded by concentrated sanguine accents. Dried beef and sandalwood notes show on the refined finish.