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In 1995 two young Italians, Antonio Morescalchi and Alberto Antonini, decided to take a chance on a little-known grape at the time… Malbec. They founded Altos Las Hormigas winery and exported some of the first premium Malbec wines to the USA, championing this rare variety as something new and exciting from Argentina. Since then, the variety has gone on to boom in Mendoza and become the flagship grape variety of the country. In this interview with Antonio Morescalchi, we get the story behind their faith in the ‘cepa francesa‘ and how he sees the evolution of Malbec over the past thirty years and what he anticipates in the years to come.
Taking a chance on Malbec: An interview with Altos Las Hormigas Antonio Morescalchi
Side note: This video interview was filmed right by the water reserve of the vineyard, you might hear the water splashing in the background (and the active bird life!)
“Mendoza was fascinating to us,” explains Antonio about when he and Alberto Antonini arrived in August 1995. “We immediately felt a connection here.”
On tasting some old samples of Malbec being stored in local wineries, Alberto was convinced that this was the grape variety that Argentina should be championing — not the Cabernet Sauvignon that most were investing their energies in. “We felt there was something special here that the world would appreciate.”
In the late 1990s, Altos Las Hormigas was one of the pioneers in exporting premium Malbec and helped put it on the map. “In 1995, there was no market for Malbec. But since then a lot has changed. In the early 2000s, Malbec because a big success. But with big success there’s also a standardisation. And Malbec then became a style and wine that very easy to understand, fruit-driven. And consumers got bored.”
Antonio, Alberto and his team also got bored with those commerical, more simple style. “We wanted something more… and I feel that ten years ago there was [a movement and] shift. Malbec has evolved beyond just the expression of a grape variety, but expression of region.”
The modern Malbec wines of Altos Las Hormigas most certainly do focus on the expression of place, over grape variety. But the portfolio has also grown to extend beyond Malbec in recent years, including other traditional varieties in the region including Bonarda, Semillon, Chenin Blanc and Pedro Gimenez, as well as newer plantings of Cabernet Franc.
