From my stay in Mendoza I brought some “souvenirs” to extend the experience, to put it one way.

In reality, I didn’t want to let go of the opportunity to sit down, unwind and to discover two Solandes’ wines: the Malbec Oak Collection 2013 and the Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Collection 2012, with which I’ll deal later on.

The file card would state:

Malbec Oak Collection 2013
Alc. 14,9%
Beautiful colour, intense and shades of violet. Fruity nose, spiced with a resinated note. Good entrance on mouth, agreeable texture and concentration; good persistence.

Varieties: 100% Malbec organic
Consultant Winemaker: EnoRolland
Vineyards: Semi-arid upland grasslands
Harvest: Manual, in boxes of 18 kgs.
Winemaking: Classic vinification in stainless steel tanks. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation with selected yeasts and bacteria under controlled temperature. Aged wines are placed in French oak barrels for about 12 months.
Serving suggestions: Strong-flavored foods, pastas and meat dishes. Serving temperature: 18-20ºC

In fact, this doesn’t fully express the wine’s essence. You can appreciate the result of the passion with which the wine cellar workers treat the soil, the grapes and the wines.

Organic wines are “hard” for the non-habituated drinker. Nevertheless, this “Malbecazo” makes you willing to keep on drinking it. And then, if the drinker is quite curious the y will find out that the fruit is from San Rafael, a sustainable environment, with neither agrochemicals nor pesticides. It is drenched in the melted water that the Atuel carries and comes from a “young” winery that combines technology and handcrafted labour, with a first class enologic team.

Summing up, taste it. And taste it again. Enjoy it. I hope Solandes continues producing wines of such a quality.

P.S. : don’t forget to recommend it.