Geography:

The grape growing area of Mendoza lies at an elevation of 800 - 1150 meters in the sandy loam underlain with river rock soil at the base of the Andes. Climate is Continental and often turbulent, affected by the confluence of warm wet winds from the north, cool dry winds from the south, and cool wet winds from the west. High peaks in the background are over 6000 m in height and snow covered year round. Summers are generally warm and dry with cool nights.

Hail and malbec:

The scourge of Mendoza is hail. Any time during the growing season, warm and cool air flows can collide, forming hail, which, accompanied by high winds, destroys the crop, sometimes for two entire years. Some growers use hail netting as a precaution, which is expensive, limits sunlight to the vines, and can restrict air flow. Nothing is perfect, except for this cluster of fully ripened malbec. We use old, 60 year+, vineyards, which limit crop production to less than 2 tons per acre.

Irrigation and Pruning:

Mendoza has dry, sandy, shallow soils and little rainfall during the growing season. Irrigation water flows through a series of canals carrying snowmelt from the Andes. Crop levels can be micro-managed by careful use of water.  Cold, rainy winters bring an early dormancy. Note traditional cane pruning and vertical trellis.

Farming and malbec:

Not all our vineyards are farmed by horse, but a couple are. Ground work is for weed control and to form irrigation channels. Note the traditional narrow rows (1.6m x .9 m) and low headed vines. Older malbec vineyards were planted to a size a single family could farm: about 5 hectares. Malbec from old, low producing, and rigorously farmed vines yields a glass-staining wine, purple/black in its youth. Its macho color belies its lovely and exotically perfumed nose, and its at once rich, deep, and hauntingly light mouth feel. Malbec has found its true calling in Argentina, where it has adapted to the high, dry, conditions that characterize Mendoza; it bears little resemblance to its often fierce and clumsy French antecedent.