Since 1999, LUCA has been consciously sourcing old Malbec parcels in Mendoza out of the bulk stream to allow them to express themselves as origin-driven, premium wines. Laura Catena, a 4th-generation Malbec grower, crafts this wine in collaboration with small family estates in the Uco Valley using old vines, resulting in significantly more concentration, depth, and tension than an average Mendoza Malbec. These old vineyards are often own-rooted and linked to pre-phylloxera selections. What does pre-phylloxera mean for Malbec? It means the genetic material traces back to vines from before the phylloxera crisis, something that has been exceptionally well preserved in Mendoza.
This wine is not a generic Mendoza Malbec, but a blend of several high-altitude origins in the Uco Valley.
- Location / Origin: The wine comes from Tupungato, La Consulta, Paraje Altamira, Pampa El Cepillo, and Gualtallary, all within Mendoza’s Uco Valley. This gives it a much more precise foundation than a broad appellation label alone.
- Altitude: The average vineyard altitude is 3,500 feet, approximately 1,067 m. In Argentina, that is clearly high enough to combine ripe fruit with vibrant freshness and a tighter structure.
- Vineyard: The average age of the vines is 46 years, which immediately gives this cuvée more depth than a young-planted Malbec.
- Old vines: Within Luca Old Vine Malbec, historic family vineyards in La Consulta play an important role, including Valverde with own-rooted Malbec from 1954 and Paganotto Downtown, officially registered as planted in 1926, while the family themselves dates the planting to between 1890 and 1900. Laura Catena has been working with these families since 1999.
- Soil: These old La Consulta parcels consist of poor sandy, silty, and clay soils over rounded stones or lime-encrusted boulders. Such lean soils help to provide the wine with more concentration and precision.
The cellar approach here is focused on power, texture, and length, without hiding the fruit behind too much oak.
- Aging / Oak maturation: The wine ages for 12 months in French oak barrels, 35% of which are new and 65% second-year. This provides extra depth, spice, chocolate-like nuance, and a firmer structure, while the fruit remains clearly recognizable.
- Alcohol percentage: With 13.5% alcohol, this Malbec has sufficient power for its oak maturation and concentrated style without losing its balance.
Everything here revolves around one grape that shows far more nuance than just power and color in old Uco Valley vineyards.
- 100% Malbec – Uco Valley: Malbec forms the entire foundation and gives the wine its deep color, black and red cherries, spiciness, chocolate, and long, vibrant structure.
Argentina
