Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesConsistently one of the best value reds in Argentina, this playful, deeply coloured Bonarda sees no wood but is fermented with 5% stems. Juicy and savoury, it has layers of plum and blueberry fruit, succulent tannins and a touch of liquorice spice. 2019-23. Alcohol: 13.2%
Always one of the best values in Argentina and a flagship of the variety and winery, the 2017 Colonia Las Liebres Bonarda Clásica is an easy-to-drink, juicy wine from parral vines in Luján de Cuyo. It fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and aged in concrete vats to allow the grape to keep its full personality without any contact with oak. It's characterful and has the varietal personality, a little rustic, with juicy fruit and a chewy texture, really good with food, a lightish wine of thirst. This wine clearly overdelivers for the price. 20,880 bottles produced. It was bottled between August and December 2017.
In 1995 Alberto Antonini, a well-known Tuscan winemaker, and Antonio Morescalchi, a young entrepreneur, took a trip to visit the burgeoning wine areas of South America. It only took one stop to find what they were looking for. They were immediately impressed by the vineyards thriving in the high altitude and dry climate of Mendoza, and were captivated by the whispered traditions and blend of cultures.
They returned to Tuscany powerfully impressed not only by the region, but also by the unexplored potential of Malbec, a grape that had a strong local tradition but was largely ignored and misunderstood. While the rest of the wine world saw Mendoza struggling to shed its bulk wine image, the two young Italians saw Mendoza as a place where traditional viticultural values and unblemished land could be reinvigorated with a modern winemaking approach and international experience. Instead of planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, as many others were doing during the 1990s, the team decided to invest their confidence in Malbec. Today, Malbec is the varietal for which Argentina is best known.
Against all odds they cemented their vision to become Terroir Specialists Shortly after, two friends and business partners, also enthused by the idea, joined the venture: Attilio Pagli, a renowned Tuscan winemaker with two 100 point-scoring wines in his personal record and Carlos Vazquez, an Argentine Agronomist, who work for 20 years with the early Catena group, planting new varieties, developing previously unknown vineyard sites and contributing greatly to the qualitative change of Argentine viticulture early on.
