Michelini i Mufatto Malbec ”La Cautiva Oleo”
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Malbec from a 0.75-hectare parcel in La Cautiva, Gualtallary, Uco Valley, at a high altitude of 1,520 meters, on sand/gravel over red calcium carbonates, granite, and highly calcareous sand.
- A single-parcel wine from very low yields.
- Organically farmed vineyard.
Varietal: 100% Malbec
Elaboration: The grapes are hand harvested. About 40% of the fruit ferments as whole clusters trodden by foot. The wine macerates for 30 days, then ages 24 months in foudres.
Tasting Notes: A floral and mineral wine with a fleshy body and great complexity. Wide aging potential.
PRESS
2022 – 96 James Suckling | 96 Tim Atkins | 96 Wine Advocate | 95 Vinous
2023 – 98 James Suckling
2024 – 99 James Suckling
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Michelini i Mufatto is a family winery in Gualtallary, high in Argentina’s Uco Valley, built around a single organically farmed vineyard — Agrícola La Cautiva — at 1,550 meters in thin granite and limestone soils. Wines ferment in concrete and age in used barrels and foudres, with each soil-defined parcel vinified separately. The whites draw on old vines, including a 120-year-old Semillon block and a Chenin Blanc vineyard planted in 1970.
Before this project, Gerardo Michelini helped establish Zorzal with his brothers, one of the wineries credited with putting Gualtallary’s high-altitude terroir on the map. He came to wine through architecture and banking, and now runs Michelini i Mufatto with his wife, Andrea Mufatto, and their son, Manu. The family also makes wine in Bierzo, Spain.