Juicy black fruits combine with violets and black pepper, with soft and ripe tannins leading a soft and opulent finish. Lovely on its own or with juicy red meat.
Winemaking Notes
A meticulous handmade selection is performed prior to vinification. 70% of this wine matures inside small concrete tanks, 30% remaining inside French used oak barrels.
Elaboration: 80% of the traditional fermentation is performed on controlled temperatures between 25 and 27 degrees Celcius adding 3 daily pump-overs during a maceration’s period of 25 days, 20% remaining fermentation is made with whole clusters obtaining a carbonic maceration.
Matías Riccitelli started his boutique winery in 2009, located in Las Compuertas at 1100 meters above sea level. It is the highest area of Lujan de Cuyo, and here he tends 20 hectares of ungrafted old vineyards. Matías also works with small, independent growers that own their lands at the bottom of the Andes halfway between 1000 and 1700 meters above sea level – in Gualtallary, Chacayes, Altamira, and La Carrera.
All harvests are conducted by hand and fermentation takes place in small concrete vats and concrete eggs. Purity and delicacy in winemaking are prized by Matías and great care is taken in preserving the fruit’s singularity in order to obtain vibrant wines.
In 2015 a new project was begun: old vineyards of Semillon, Merlot, and Malbec were discovered and reclaimed in Argentinian Patagonia. The vineyards are located in the Rio Negro high valley and were planted in the late 1960s. The resulting wines are fresh, intensely aromatic, and highly balanced.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Valentine’s Day. 2022. It’s a good think this wine showed up, cause I didn’t have bupkiss. It’s strong, it’s floral. Quite delicious for me. The high alcohol percent typically leaves the mouth a bit parched, but this one ees
@alacercogitatus Well, apparently I can’t edit it. LOL. This wine was pretty decent, although we are partial to Cab Sauv. Definitely has some wonderful notes in it, I smelled and tasted plum. I’d take it home from the bar if asked, but would swipe left.
@TimW Well, it helps that Southern Hemisphere wines like from Argentina are 1/2 year ahead of us in harvest schedule. I also used to notice this especially in whites from NZ and Chile, which surprised me at first. Later this year will already see some 2022 sauv blancs I think. For reds a year or two longer, usually, as this one seems to be.
We took a wonderful trip to the Uco Valley in 2018. During the wine tastings, many wineries would pour an Unoaked Malbec, filling the slot that a Pinot might at a tasting in California (after the whites, before the more full bodied reds). This appears to be made in that style, which I haven’t come across often in the US. Seems like most are big, oaky “steak wines”. They would say this is the wine you drink while you wait for your oaked Malbecs to age. A fruit-forward patio pounder not to be taken too seriously (as this label would suggest). Haven’t tasted this wine but this is a fun style in my experience.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2020 Riccitelli “Hey Malbec” from Argentina - $35 = 21.87%
Of course there is a review out in the ether somewhere right…from Patricio Tapia (?), critic from Chile who publishes an annual guide Descorchados and does a little work for Wine & Spirits magazine. From Descorchados:
“This is one of the great successes of Riccitelli, a Malbec that, since its first edition in 2014, has tried to deliver a fresh, fruity and direct vision of the variety, offering a range of vineyards. In this case, 50% of the grapes come from the Uco Valley and the other 50% come from Luján de Cuyo, from vines planted between 950 and 1,400 meters above sea level. With 20% whole bunch to accentuate its fruity side, this is a delicious black cherry juice. About 200 thousand bottles were made of this. 91 Points.” January 2022
@kaolis@pmarin@SDL3 Production 5,000 cases.
That’s 60k bottles with my math? They must be talking about another vintage. Also a 91?! CT only review is a 78 so I’m feeling like averaging these together to justify a purchase!
@kitkat34@pmarin@SDL3 The review stated 2020 vintage tasted 1/22, but who knows. As we see often, specs and numbers are sometimes a crapshoot as far as accuracy.
No expert trust me, but as far as style definitely sounds like this is made in a drink me now/soon style but Nouveau is kind of unique in the fermentation process and bottled in just several weeks.
This bottle came with enough time for a one day travel rest and special trip to our best local butcher, JW Treuth, for the recommended “red juicy meat”. Popped yesterday on a busy night. Natural cork in good shape, just colored at the bottom.
First impressions: on the nose plum, dark fruit and pencil lead detected. Nice dark color. Tasted before the night zoom meeting I had to present at (for science). Smooth round mouthfeel, not fruity by any means, well-composed, balanced. Slight tartness at the back of tongue. Very ready to drink.
After Zooming for an hour, grilled the ribeye, reheated the sweet potato fries and grabbed a salad. Really drinks well with the steak, as advertised. No major flavor reveals with the food. Just good solid accompaniment.
With the chocolate cake, another solid pairing.
I’ll add a midday evolution update post at lunch (and figure out how to post these photos…)
I plan on grabbing a case, great daily (initial typo had me saying “dealy”) drinker. Both apply here.
@arbdef@Winedavid49 this one took just a few days longer than usual. I got mine on Friday but the notifications from UPS were way off…they were like days behind
I was excited to try this wine. UPS said it was delivered, but when I got home, no wine. Looked up tracking and it states shipment was damaged. Undamaged items were sent back to shipper. Money was refunded, but the disappointment is real.
2020 Riccitelli “Hey Malbec”, Argentina
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
$227.88/Case for 12x 2020 Riccitelli “Hey Malbec”, Argentina at Elixir Wine Group
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Mar 7 - Friday, Mar 11
2020 Riccitelli “Hey Malbec” from Argentina
6 bottles for $79.99 $13.33/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $124.99 $10.42/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
Valentine’s Day. 2022. It’s a good think this wine showed up, cause I didn’t have bupkiss. It’s strong, it’s floral. Quite delicious for me. The high alcohol percent typically leaves the mouth a bit parched, but this one ees
@alacercogitatus I think your review got cut off!
@alacercogitatus @TimW
@alacercogitatus @TimW Ummm…yeah?
@alacercogitatus Well, apparently I can’t edit it. LOL. This wine was pretty decent, although we are partial to Cab Sauv. Definitely has some wonderful notes in it, I smelled and tasted plum. I’d take it home from the bar if asked, but would swipe left.
@alacercogitatus I’m too old to know which swipe is good.
@alacercogitatus Thank you for the review
@alacercogitatus I think u only get 15 minutes (or something like that) here on this forum to edit a post.
@alacercogitatus @TimW
Five, unless you friend a mod.
@alacercogitatus
It doesn’t seem right that we now have 2020 vintage wines, but here we are…getting older and feeling older every day.
@TimW Well, it helps that Southern Hemisphere wines like from Argentina are 1/2 year ahead of us in harvest schedule. I also used to notice this especially in whites from NZ and Chile, which surprised me at first. Later this year will already see some 2022 sauv blancs I think. For reds a year or two longer, usually, as this one seems to be.
We took a wonderful trip to the Uco Valley in 2018. During the wine tastings, many wineries would pour an Unoaked Malbec, filling the slot that a Pinot might at a tasting in California (after the whites, before the more full bodied reds). This appears to be made in that style, which I haven’t come across often in the US. Seems like most are big, oaky “steak wines”. They would say this is the wine you drink while you wait for your oaked Malbecs to age. A fruit-forward patio pounder not to be taken too seriously (as this label would suggest). Haven’t tasted this wine but this is a fun style in my experience.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations).
2020 Riccitelli “Hey Malbec” from Argentina - $35 = 21.87%
Of course there is a review out in the ether somewhere right…from Patricio Tapia (?), critic from Chile who publishes an annual guide Descorchados and does a little work for Wine & Spirits magazine. From Descorchados:
“This is one of the great successes of Riccitelli, a Malbec that, since its first edition in 2014, has tried to deliver a fresh, fruity and direct vision of the variety, offering a range of vineyards. In this case, 50% of the grapes come from the Uco Valley and the other 50% come from Luján de Cuyo, from vines planted between 950 and 1,400 meters above sea level. With 20% whole bunch to accentuate its fruity side, this is a delicious black cherry juice. About 200 thousand bottles were made of this. 91 Points.” January 2022
fwiw
@kaolis @SDL3 Interesting… do you think this is supposed be almost like a Beaujolais Nouveau style?
Also, wow, 200K bottles?! quite a difference from the random small batches we see here sometimes.
@kaolis @pmarin @SDL3 Production 5,000 cases.
That’s 60k bottles with my math? They must be talking about another vintage. Also a 91?! CT only review is a 78 so I’m feeling like averaging these together to justify a purchase!
@kitkat34 @pmarin @SDL3 The review stated 2020 vintage tasted 1/22, but who knows. As we see often, specs and numbers are sometimes a crapshoot as far as accuracy.
No expert trust me, but as far as style definitely sounds like this is made in a drink me now/soon style but Nouveau is kind of unique in the fermentation process and bottled in just several weeks.
This bottle came with enough time for a one day travel rest and special trip to our best local butcher, JW Treuth, for the recommended “red juicy meat”. Popped yesterday on a busy night. Natural cork in good shape, just colored at the bottom.
First impressions: on the nose plum, dark fruit and pencil lead detected. Nice dark color. Tasted before the night zoom meeting I had to present at (for science). Smooth round mouthfeel, not fruity by any means, well-composed, balanced. Slight tartness at the back of tongue. Very ready to drink.
After Zooming for an hour, grilled the ribeye, reheated the sweet potato fries and grabbed a salad. Really drinks well with the steak, as advertised. No major flavor reveals with the food. Just good solid accompaniment.
With the chocolate cake, another solid pairing.
I’ll add a midday evolution update post at lunch (and figure out how to post these photos…)
I plan on grabbing a case, great daily (initial typo had me saying “dealy”) drinker. Both apply here.
@kls_in_MD Thank you for the rattage
@kls_in_MD … well that didn’t work. <edit> for
positive-grateful-haircut
@kls_in_MD
Saw the offer and immediately thought of this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey!_Album
/giphy small-fiery-onion
HOLY SHIT A MALBEC YES PLEASE
@DrunkCat tell us what you REALLY feel.
/giphy penultimate-jaunty-sleet
Done
/giphy poignant-magic-throne
How long generally is the shipping time?
@arbdef i saw them working on it late last week. should be on the road or soon. fyi.
@arbdef @Winedavid49 this one took just a few days longer than usual. I got mine on Friday but the notifications from UPS were way off…they were like days behind
I was excited to try this wine. UPS said it was delivered, but when I got home, no wine. Looked up tracking and it states shipment was damaged. Undamaged items were sent back to shipper. Money was refunded, but the disappointment is real.