Caballero de la Cepa Malbec Reserve

Country: Argentina Region: Mendoza

Varietal: Malbec

Vintage: 2022 Colour: Red Style: Dry

Producer: Finca Flichman

PRODUCER
The winery was founded in 1910 by Polish immigrant Don Sami
Flichman. He purchased property in Barrancas (southern Maipu)
and planted vines in rocky, well-drained plots situated along the
Mendoza river. It was Sami’s son Isaac who first began to make
fine wine at the estate, including Caballero de la Cepa, one of
the first high-quality wines that garnered international awareness
for premium Argentinian wines. Sogrape Vinhos purchased Finca
Flichman in 1998, and invested heavily in restoring the vineyards
and modernising the winery. The original Barrancas vineyard
remains among their 400 hectares of vines, which also includes the
higher altitude Tupungato vineyard. Today the wines are made by
Rogelio Rabino, who works closely with consultant and renowned
winemaker Alberto Antonini.
VINEYARDS
Grapes for the Caballero de la Cepa wines are picked from the
Barrancas region in southern Maipu, Mendoza. The vines here are
planted in rocky, well-drained plots situated along the south side
of the Mendoza river. The vineyards sit at high altitudes - 1,100
metres above sea level - meaning that there are large
temperature differences between day and night. This extends the
growing season and helps to retain freshness and finesse in the
wines.
VINIFICATION
On arrival to the winery, the hand-picked grapes underwent a
cold maceration for two days at 10°C. Fermentation lasted 12
days at a controlled temperature of 25°C, and underwent
malolactic conversion. The wine was aged in second and third use French oak foudres (500 litres) for six months and spent a
further six months ageing in bottle.
TASTING NOTES
This wine is ruby red in colour with blue hues. The aroma is
perfumed and complex - a combination of violets, cherries and
oak spice. On the palate, it is concentrated with blackberries, ripe
plums and tobacco leaves. Sweet, ripe tannins balance the fruit.