Maal Wines was born from a friendship nourished by a common passion for winemaking, viticulture and Malbec. In 2010, a microvinification of 6 barrels from grapes sourced at an abandoned vineyard in Vistaflores gave rise to this project.
the soul of a vineyard and the personality of the winemakers.
ALFREDO MERLO - WINEMAKER & PROPRIETOR
Alfredo is a young winemaker who simply wants to make Malbec the way he likes to drink it.
While his family has been involved in the wine industry for decades, Alfredo is the first to fully commit to winemaking. His father is an agronomist and owner of the company "Luján Agricola", one of the largest supplying companies of Mendoza’s farms and fields; his two grandparents were wine merchants and winemakers.
In his quest to understand the secrets of traditional winemaking, he worked at the harvest of wineries that produce the style of wines he appreciated as a consumer: Harlan Estate (Napa) in 2008 and 2012, Pulenta Estate (Mendoza) in 2009, Montana Gisborne (New Zealand) in 2010, and Achaval Ferrer (Mendoza) in 2011.
IMPOSIBLE
Many times we heard that it is Impossible to produce great wines without using traditional oak barrels, and that led us to investigate other ways of incorporating the virtues of oak in the wine.
This is how we started experimenting with French oak staves inside the cement vats, instead of using traditional barrels.
The cube in the label symbolizes how the impossible is just an illusion, and how using only these oak staves we seek to produce a great wine.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Varietal composition: Malbec 100%.
Grape sourcing: Vistaflores West, Tunuyan, Mendoza.
Altitude: 1.170 msnm.
Soil Characteristics: Alluvial origin. Mostly deep, sandy-silty soils, with stones in small areas.
Age of the vineyard: 10 years.
Trellis system: VSP.
Density of plantation: 4000 plants/ha.
Irrigation system: drip irrigation, enforced with flood irrigation twice a year.
Moment of harvest: Second week of April.
Harvest method: Manual, in 13kg plastic containers.
Type of Maceration: 4 days pre-fermentative cold maceration.
Total time of Maceration: 23 days.
Type of yeast: Indigenous.
Temperature of Fermentation: between 26-28 °C.
Time in oak: 8 months for 50% of the wine– 50% unoaked.
Type of oak: French staves, light toast, by Seguin Moreau.
Alcohol: 14.8% by vol.
Residual Sugar: 3.35 gr/lt.
Ph: 3.65
AT: 5.95
Total Production: 1100 cases.
