Achaval Ferrer Finca Altamira 2005

wa95ws94

BN#203023

Achaval Ferrer

All our wines are bottled without fining or filtering. There is additional risk in this, but we prefer not to stripe the wine of subtle flavors and aromas. The formation of deposits in the bottle will be noticeable after some cellaring time. With Finca Altamira our goal is to allow the vineyard to express its “terroir”. Malbec is the flagship red variety from Argentina. It has found in Mendoza its true home. We work as hard as necessary during eleven months in the vineyard, to produce grapes that will need very little intervention during the winemaking process. The climate, the viticultural program, the irrigation management: Everything is thought as a step towards the goal of true expression of the vineyard. Finca Altamira´s personality shines through the wine, vintage after vintage, with a recognizable and repeated signature. Fermentation took place in a small tank. At dryness, the wine was pressed and racked into French oak barrels, 100% new, where it was then aged for 15 months.

Wine Advocate

The glories of Achaval-Ferrer are the limited production single-vineyard Malbecs. The 2005 Finca Altamira is more primordial and backward than the 2004. Very primary at the moment, with another decade in the bottle it will surely blossom and reveal far more complexity. At that time, my present score will look conservative. Although Achaval-Ferrer’s wines have virtually no track record, I am confident that they will evolve in the manner of a First Growth Bordeaux.

Score: 95. —Jay Miller, December 2007.

Wine Spectator

Starts with a gorgeous nose of crushed plum and bluebell aromas before following up with a very concentrated but deftly balanced palate of plum sauce, spice, blueberry, boysenberry and sweet black licorice, all held together by a vibrant, minerally spine. The finish is superlong and supersilky. Drink now through 2015. 669 cases made.

Score: 94. —James Molesworth, October 15, 2007.