Abremundos Octava Bassa Malbec 2021 Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina 75cl

Octava Bassa is a meeting of two Argentine talents, the acclaimed winemaker Marcelo Pelleriti and the musician Pedro Aznar. Pelleriti, the first Latin American winemaker to earn 100 points from Robert Parker, splits his year between Mendoza and Bordeaux, and this project channels a shared love of music and wine. The name itself nods to music, and the two set out to make a wine with the same soul as a good song.

The wine is pure Malbec grown in the high vineyards of Tunuyán, in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, where altitude and cool nights lend freshness and deep colour. It is aged for around sixteen months in French oak followed by a spell in bottle, building structure without losing the grape’s ripe fruit.

The 2021 growing season in the Uco Valley was cool and unhurried, the kind of year that favours balance and slow, even ripening. That is reflected in a Malbec with firm but ripe tannins and genuine freshness rather than sheer weight.

Expect a deep, dark glass and aromas of blackberry and plum lifted by violet, a little chocolate and gentle spice from oak. The palate is full-bodied and layered, with chewy tannins and a long, savoury finish. Decant an hour ahead.

A serious Uco Valley Malbec for anyone who enjoys a wine with a story. It is built for the table, at its best with slow-cooked lamb, grilled beef, empanadas or a mature hard cheese, and has the structure to reward a few more years in the cellar.