2015 Seminare Malbec Mendoza Gen del Alma

There is a new top of the range red, the 2015 Seminare, produced with full clusters of Malbec from Gualtallary (Tupungato Winelands) from a plot (number 56, as all plots there are numbered) that has limestone all the way to the surface. It fermented with 100% full clusters in 3,000-liter cement amphorae without pumping over or punching down, and matured in neutral, well-seasoned oak barrels without racking or even refilling the barriques. They look for tension and a strict mineral palate. It has very fine- grained, powdery tannins that fill your palate and give you a sensation akin to licking chalk. Ultra austere, mineral, wild Gualtallary. It should develop nicely in bottle. I had the chance to taste another bottle a few weeks later, and the wine showed exactly as I had found it in my first encounter. 1,000 bottles and 97 magnums produced. It was bottled in May 2016.