Tapiz Alta Collection Mendoza 2021 | Argentina Malbec

The Tapiz Winery, located in the San Pablo I.G. in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, has one of the highest vineyards in Mendoza at 4,400 feet above sea level. Under the ownership and vision of Patricia Ortiz, Tapiz is a pioneer in the region and helped develop San Pablo into one of Argentina’s most renowned IGs. The state-of-the art winery is located in the heart of the estate vineyards, at the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

The highly rated wines of Tapiz are made by the celebrated winemaking team of Fabian Valenzuela and famed Bordeaux winemaker Jean Claude Berrouet (winemaker of Petrus for 44 vintages). Their wines are a beautiful tapiz (tapestry) of terroir and innovation. Benefiting from the extremes of altitude, temperature, and soil heterogeneity, Fabian and Jean Claude are able to create wines that are full-bodied and concentrated, yet elegant and balanced.

Through her wineries, Patricia is dedicated to giving back to the environment through sustainable practices. She believes that sustainability is the interaction of community and the environment and at Tapiz they strive to make measurable contributions and encourage responsible practices among their staff, suppliers, and customers.

The winemaking philosophy behind the 2021 Tapiz Alta Collection Malbec bridges extreme Andean high-altitude viticulture with classic Bordeaux precision, thanks to the collaboration between head winemaker Fabián Valenzuela and legendary consultant Jean-Claude Berrouet (former head winemaker at Château Pétrus for 44 vintages).

Grapes are grown at the San Pablo Estate Vineyard in the Uco Valley, sitting at an extreme 1,350 to 1,400+ meters (4,400+ feet) above sea level.

Deep alluvial soils made of sand and gravel, mixed with calcareous limestone deposit layers. This unique profile imparts a chalky texture and mineral line to the wine.

The high elevation creates temperature swings of up to 20°C (36°F) between day and night. Cold night winds flowing down from the Andes preserve natural acidity while the hot mountain sun fully ripens the skins.

Grapes are hand-picked into small plastic crates to prevent grape damage prior to reaching the gravity-fed winery located directly on the estate.

Cold-soak (maceration) prior to fermentation allows gentle extraction of deep color, floral aromatics (violets), and fresh primary fruit without over-extracting harsh tannins.

Fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks using selected yeasts.

The "Berrouet Touch", Influenced by Berrouet's classical French style, extraction is kept disciplined, avoiding the overly jammy, heavy handed extraction common in cheap Malbecs. The focus is on suppleness, vibrant acidity, and elegant, fine grained tannin structure.

Wine is aged for 10 to 12 months in oak barrels. A refined blend consisting of 95% French oak (giving structure, subtle spice, and cocoa) and 5% American oak (adding a light touch of vanilla and sweetness). A combination of first- and second-use barrels is used so the oak supports, rather than masks, the high-altitude fruit. Wine is bottled with light filtration to retain high-altitude freshness and structural integrity.