Estate Malbec is made from 100% Malbec grapes, which are sourced from one of Kaiken’s vineyards in Agrelo (Mendoza), located at an altitude of 950 m.a.s.l., and where the vines were planted before 2005.
The harvest takes place manually and the grapes are transported in containers of max. 300 kg. After arriving at the cellar, the bunches are further selected. The fermentation takes place in smaller tanks, so that the different parcels can be fermented separately and reproduce their own character. The wines then undergo a malolactic fermentation and a maturation for 6-8 months, 50% of the wine in French wooden barrels and the other half in steel tanks. The blending, followed by a natural sedimentation and a light filtration, only took place immediately before bottling.
The wine has an intense ruby red/purple colour. On the nose, the wine has a crisp fruit aroma with shades of plums, blackberries, but also more delicate notes of wild roses and rose hips. On the palate, the wine is fleshy and structured, but with good freshness and fruity sweetness. It ends with beautiful, complex nuances of coffee and chocolate. The vintage’s tannin-rich and crisp style gives the wine a good balance.
Serve the wine at 15-17 degrees for example with red meat and food from the grill. The wine’s softness and elegance means that it can be served with light meats such as chicken and pork in addition to red meat, which is atypical for Malbec wines.
In 2001, Aurelio Montes, who had put Chile on the vinous world map in terms of quality wine, took the trip across the Andes and founded the winery “Kaiken” in Mendoza, Argentina. The ambition was to combine the tireless focus on quality that had taken the Montes wines in Chile into a class of their own, with the unique terroir of Argentina, thus uniting the best of both countries. The name “Kaiken” was chosen as it is also the name of a local wild goose, which symbolically (also) makes a cross-border and challenging “journey” across the Andes between the two countries.
Winemaker Aurelio Montes has always believed that 80% of a good wine is based on the nature of the vineyards and the work that is carried out in them, whereas only 20% can be attributed to the work in the cellar, and at Kaiken this has meant that one has begun a process where biodynamics and sustainability play a far greater role.
“Working with the biodynamic principles in the field makes you more human. You can be 100% organic and still function like a computer” – Aurelio Montes.
