Gran Malbec 2020

The Bousquet family hails from the town of Carcassonne in the south of France and has 4 generations of history in the winemaking tradition. A vacation to Argentina in 1990 was enough. For Jean Bousquet, third generation winemaker, it was love at first sight. The Frenchman's object of desire: the Gualtallary Valley, a picturesque, isolated and arid terrain located in the Uco Valley within Mendoza, Argentina. Here, where condors fly and not a vineyard in sight, Jean discovered his dream terroir, an ideal place to cultivate wines from organic farming.


This cuvée highlights the best quality of the estate's grapes, grown at 1200 meters above sea level in the upper part of Gualtallary : an exceptional terroir for wines in the Uco valley. The estate follows the precepts of organic farming . Thanks to the region's drought and sandy soils, the roots of the vines penetrate deeper, searching for trace elements that give the wines their authenticity and complexity. The harvests are done by hand with low yields. This vintage is vinified in stainless steel vats followed by maceration with the skins for 20 days. The wine is then aged for 12 months in French oak barrels. Mainly composed of Malbec , this wine includes Merlot for roundness and Cabernet Sauvignon for structure. This wine reveals notes of plum , blackcurrant , blueberry , blackberry , dried flowers , black cherry , cocoa , leather , tobacco , pepper and graphite . The palate is powerful and complex, with supple tannins and a nice acidity balancing everything. The finish is long and spicy.

Although Argentina is considered the "new world", its wine tradition is much older than one might think, dating back to the time of Spanish colonization, in the 16th century and then by Italian settlers. Unlike Chile, wine has long been part of the country's culture. Over the past 20 years, the country's wine producers have increased quality levels and managed to consolidate an international export market. No wine-producing country in the world has made more progress in the last years of the 20th century (on the viticultural and oenological level, if not necessarily financially). Argentina has now become the fifth largest wine producing country in the world, after France, Italy, Spain and the United States. Argentina is one of the most important wine-producing countries in the New World, and the largest wine producer in South America. The high-altitude deserts of the eastern Andes have given rise to a high-quality wine industry, and the terroir here is well suited to Argentina's adopted grape variety, the ubiquitous Malbec. Originally from Bordeaux, he is today responsible for some of the most famous Argentinian wines, which are characterized by their brightness and intensity, with floral notes and dark fruit flavors. Other red varieties produced in Argentina are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Bonarda, Syrah, Tempranillo and Pinot Noir. Among white wines, the emblematic grape variety of the Argentine wine region is Torrontés, which gives a wine with a floral and tropical taste. The country also produces Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio. Today, Argentinian wines are recognized throughout the world for their full-bodied reds and as high quality wines.