Brand story
Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Reserva 2022
The Reserve is where Altos Las Hormigas' terroir work is most explicit. Since 1995 the estate has built its reputation on reading Mendoza's soils rather than chasing power — an approach formalised with Pedro Parra's soil studies and expressed in a cellar that avoids new oak and heavy extraction. Where the Clásico speaks for Mendoza broadly, the Reserve speaks for limestone: 80% of the fruit comes from the estate's own Jardín de Hormigas vineyard in Paraje Altamira, with 20% from the high alluvial terraces of Gualtallary, ground made of medium and large gravels coated in calcium carbonate that gives the wine its structure, texture and length of aftertaste.
The 2022 was a compressed, demanding season — strong heatwaves, heavy rain, and a narrow window to pick at optimal ripeness and health, which the estate took. Hand-harvested, fermented at 24°C on natural acidity and indigenous yeasts with brief, gentle pump-overs up to three times a day, the wine was raised 15 months with 75% in unlined concrete and 25% in 3,500-litre untoasted French oak foudres, then a further 12 months in bottle. It is deep red with magenta hues, opening on raspberry, cassis and plum before turning to thyme, chamomile, jarilla, wet stone, graphite and menthol; the palate is juicy and structured, carried by enveloping natural acidity with textured tannins and a distinctly chalky mouthfeel. Altitude and limestone, translated directly.
