Amauta Absoluto Malbec El Porvenir 2023 vs St Joseph, Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, Rhône 2022

Amauta Absoluto Malbec El Porvenir 2023

Intense ruby red colour, with a nose of fresh, crunchy red berry fruits - strawberry, raspberry & cherry. There are gentle spice notes of vanilla, chocolate and coffee too. The palate is fresh - much fresher than a typical Mendoza Malbec - reflecting the unique climate of Cafayate. There are lifted creme de cassis fruit flavours, soft tannins and a long silky finish. Producer Details El Porvenir de Cafayate is a small, family-owned winery in Cafayate, the dry mountain desert region in far North-Western Argentina near the city of Salta towards the Uruguayan/Brazilian border. El Porvenir specialise in Torrontes, Malbec, Tannat and red blends from 45-50 year old vineyards which are amongst the highest in the world at 1900m asl and peopled with 20-foot, 200 year old monster cacti. colour in the reds here is profound due to the exposure to prolonged mountain sunlight, with soft tannins due in part to the extreme diurnal temperature differences when Boutinot winemaker Eric Monnin and New World Product Manager Robin Naylor bumped onto the runway at Cafayates sleepy airstrip there was thick frost on the cacti but within a few hours it was 24 degrees. The winery and vineyards date from 1890 with the winery and estates being bought and restored by the Romero-Marcuzzi family in the 1990s. Winemaker Mariano Quiroga Adamo is one of Argentinas brightest young winemakers and El Porvenir benefits from the sage involvement of renowned winemaker Paul Hobbs, who has been involved here for many years. The company is run by the energetic Lucia Romero-Marcuzzi and the packaging and labels reflect the Inca Cross which is a common symbol in this part of the Andes. El Porvenir the future has been the name of this estate has since it was founded in 1890. There are three vineyard sites in the high and incredibly dry Cafayate Valley the latest plantings are up at 2000m on bare rock. The changes in winemaking philosophy here - moving away from American oak, more vineyard expression, terroir and