Finca Flichman, Microterroir Gravel & Stone Malbec, Tupungato, Mendoza 2020 (14.5%)
POA £ Liberty Wines
The battle for the Argentinian Malbec crown is always fierce. This year’s laureate comes from Tupungato in the Uco Valley. It boasts dense, almost Port-like primary fruit, despite the fact that it has had a period in wood and is now four years old. That same exuberance is apparent on the palate, complete with stunningly perfumed tannins and fruit-saturated acidity. But here’s the thing: there’s no heat, no exaggeration, no excessiveness, no exhaustion for the drinker. The wine is deft, supple, sumptuous and supremely drinkable: magnificent winemaking working with outstanding fruit.
‘This award is the most important of my career,’ declares Flichman head winemaker Rogelio Rabino. He has overseen more than 16 harvests in Argentina, always with sustainability and terroir at the forefront of his approach: an outlook crystallised in this wine. ‘It is the ultimate expression of our Tupungato terroir, the result of an exhaustive soil study that allows us to determine the characteristics of the soils and how each plot influences our wines, especially Malbec, our flagship variety.’
The Malbec for Gravel & Stone comes from Flichman’s Finca Don Fernando vineyard, which sits at 1,100m and was first planted in 1998. ‘This was one of the first vineyards planted in this part of Tupungato,’ says Rabino. ‘The grapes are harvested from a plot planted in 2011, sitting on alluvial deposits with a sandy loam texture and a layer of large, rounded stones located 50cm deep. It produces floral, spicy grapes with great natural acidity.’ Founded in 1910, Finca Flichman has been under the umbrella of Portuguese group Sogrape since 1998, that acquisition bringing significant investment in expertise and technology, and today its vineyards, at the foot of the Andes, produce three million bottles a year, although its victorious Microterroir Malbec is a treasured, limited release of just 2,500.