2011 AR Guentota, Belasco de Baquedano, Mendoza, Argentina, Lujan de Cuyo

This estate, owned by the Spanish family Belasco, is entirely focused on the Argentine varietal: the Malbec. Convinced of the exceptional qualities of this grape variety, in combination with the terroir of Mendoza, the family decided to initiate this ambitious project, where quality is more important than quantity.

Belasco de Baquedano has a vineyard of more than 100 years old (planted in 1910) with ungrafted Malbec vines, of French origin. This vineyard is located on the best terroir of Mendoza: the region of Agrelo in Luyan de Cuyo, at an altitude of 1000 m, at the foot of the Andes.

With the help of oenologist-consultant Bertrand Boudril, former winemaker of Château Mouton Rotschild, entirely new cellars were built. What is striking are the many small "vats" made of stainless steel or cement, where the grapes of the different plots are vinified separately, using the "shedding" technique. The cellars are thus constructed so that the grapes and wines can be transported from the sorting table to the bottle by gravity, thus avoiding too sudden pumping.

The result can not be better formulated than by the slogan of the estate: "Exclusively Malbec ... Exceptionally exquisite.