ESCALA HUMANA
PAST WINES
2022 MALBEC
Their twenty-year-old Malbec vines are planted on alluvial calcareous soils. Roughly two-thirds of the grapes are destemmed before they’re loaded into concrete egg for fermentation. The wine is then pressed off into neutral barrel for élevage. 14% ABV, 5.52 g/l TA, 0.65 g/l VA, 45ppm SO2
2021 CABERNET SAUVIGNON
These century-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines are planted on clay loam. The grapes are both hand-harvested and hand destemmed. Fermentation takes place in concrete egg for 24 days. The wine is then pressed back into concrete for a modest élevage. 13% ABV, 5.11 g/l TA, 3.6 pH, 0.43 g/l VA, 35ppm SO2
2021 SANGIOVESE
At just over 1400m above sea level, this vineyard is in San José, a sub-region of the Uco Valley’s Tupungato. The 70+-year-old vines are planted on clay loam and are trained in pergolas. The grapes are destemmed and fermented on skins for four weeks before being pressed off. After an eight-month élevage in concrete egg the wine is bottled unfiltered. Only 350 cases were produced. 12% ABV, 5.67 g/l TA, 3.5 pH 0.37 g/l VA, 21ppm SO2
2022 BONARDA
Douce Noir, a rare variety from Savoie in France, is confusingly known as Bonarda in Argentina. It is a late-ripening variety that tends to result in wines with plush tannins and balanced alcohol levels, even in warm climates. These 30+-year-old vines are planted in sandy soils. Half the grapes are destemmed before fermentation in concrete egg. The wine is then pressed off for élevage in neutral barrel. 13.7% ABV, 5.77 g/l TA.
2021 BEQUIGNOL
This variety is indigenous to South-West France, but now only a hectare remains. Fortunately, Argentina is keeping this obscure cultivar alive. It does well in hot, dry conditions, making it an ideal candidate for the Uco Valley. The small berries tend to yield light-bodied wines with plenty of colour saturation. These vines, planted in 1954 in El Zampal, are trained on pergolas. The grapes were fermented whole cluster for 45 days before an eight-month élevage in neutral barrel. Fewer than a thousand cases were produced. 12.2% ABV, 5.04 g/l TA, 3.5 pH, 0.38 g/l VA, 52ppm SO2
2021 MALVASIA
This wine comes from the El Zampal region of the Uco Valley. The site, Pelegrina, has two acres of Malvasia planted in 1927. At nearly 1100m above sea level, the vines are planted in clay loam and sand. The grapes are destemmed before fermenting and macerating on skins for three months in stainless steel. It sees an additional six-month élevage in neutral barrel before being racked and bottled unfiltered. Fewer than a thousand cases were produced. 10.4% ABV, 5.12 g/l TA, 0.35 g/l VA, 85ppm SO2
2019 CREDO SEMILLON
This wine comes from the El Peral District of Tupungato. The vineyard is between 1100m and 1200m above sea level, making it much colder than the valley below. Soils here are mostly loam but with granitic and calcareous stones from the mountains above. Just over half the grapes were direct pressed into tank while the remainder was destemmed and macerated on skins for a week. After pressing, the wine finishes fermentation and élevage in barrel for two years before bottling. Fewer than 100 cases were produced.
2019 CREDO MALBEC
This wine comes from the El Peral District of Tupungato. The vineyard is between 1100m and 1200m above sea level, making it much colder than the valley below. Soils here are mostly loam but with granitic and calcareous stones from the mountains above. The grapes were destemmed into concrete egg where fermentation took 35 days. It was then pressed off into neutral puncheons for a two year élevage. Fewer than 100 cases were produced. 14.6% ABV, 5.66 g/l TA, 0.59 g/l VA, 54ppm SO2.