Matervini is the new wine adventure of Santiago Achával and Roberto Cipresso. It was born in 2008, in an attempt to answer the question “what’s next after Malbec?” Their answer was, “More Malbec! From different places, with different personalities.” This venture shows how very different wines from completely different terroirs can be born from the same grape variety.
A New Adventure For Argentinian Wine
Matervini travels the long path that goes from traditional to unexplored areas, from young to old geologies and from alluvial to non-alluvial soil structures – like those of the Pre-cordillera. All along this road, wines with unique personalities emerge as different expressions of nature.
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It is a path that starts with Wine made in traditional Mendocinian soils in the Uco Valley, that give the visitor the opportunity to try the flavors and personality of a classic and traditional terroir. This is the starting point where they can move to soils of adventure and discovery:
Canota Valley in Mendoza, Calchaquíes in Salta, midway between Cafayate and Molinos, Yacochuya, in Cafayate, and lastly, returning to Mendoza, Piedras Viejas, in the area of El Challao, Las Heras, the first vineyard in Mendoza set on a pronounced hillside, with up to 13 thousand plants per hectare, planted at more than 5,000 feet above sea level with a great geological diversity in such a small area. Soils with calciferous rock more than 40 million years old, and others more than 450 million years old, and a third, of broken, weathered black basalt. All in less than 36 acres, in the middle of the Pre-cordillera.
VIDEO : Matervini Winery, Mendoza Argentina
This journey “tense from so much change, intense from so much personality, captivating from so much excitement,” as described by Achával, ends in the terroir of traditional Mendoza: a wine from Perdriel, a Malbec from vines planted in 1938. “Serenity to finalize the journey and elegance to never forget that Argentina has been making wine for the past five centuries, but has also been reborn into the world with a great diversity of soils and flavors that we’ve only begun to explore.”
Here, in this last soil, a building is being constructed where we make six wines of the same intensity, but different geologies. The winery produces 40,000 bottles annually, among all the labels.
Matervini Winery Top 3 Wines
Tinto
This red wine comes from the Chacayes district in Uco Valley, Mendoza. It is a young area located at 3600 feet above sea level. Soils with alluvial sandy loam and gravel. It is a blend of Malbec co-fermented with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This wine is structured and fresh at the same time.
Finca
The vineyard that gives origin to this Malbec was planted in 1938 and was cultivated by horses until 2002. It grows at 3200 feet of altitude, in alluvial soils: sandy loam with clay layers and deep gravel beds, formed by the millenary activity of Mendoza River. The combination this soil and old vines results in this classic wine from Mendoza, with flavors of attractive austerity, strong minerality, good balance and a long finish.
Alteza
This vineyard is located in Yacochuya, on the western slopes of Cafayate Valley, at 7200 feet of altitude. It shares the Pre-Cordillera foothill soil structures with Rupestre. It is planted on a terrace built centuries ago by Aboriginal inhabitants and is irrigated by snowmelt. This Malbec’s character is given by minerality and structure. Fruit isn’t the center but an accessory, overshadowed by conviction of terroir, which builds the personality that makes it so attractive.
Six Wines – The Same Intensity
“What comes next after Malbec?”
“More Malbec!”Santiago Achával & Roberto Cipresso
Read more about Matervini Winery directly on their website.