7 Colores is the fine wine label of a large group (Grupo Yarur) and company which generally focuses on bulk wines. Although the 7 Colores winery is based in Maipo, they have over 300 hectares of vines in Chile. 7 Colores produces a series of red wines in Colchagua, Maule and Maipo (where they have very good Cabernet Sauvignon).
Altos Las Hormigas winery was founded in 1995 by famed Tuscan winemaker Alberto Antonini and a fellow Italian entrepreneur Antonio Morescalchi, who started out with their mission to be the world’s first ‘Malbec specialist’ making old vine Malbec. They certainly became Malbec specialists with one of the most exciting terroir ranges made in Argentina today, but have also become a fascinating producer to follow for other exciting innovations with Bonarda, Cabernet Franc and Semillon among other varieties.
Today the minds behind Altos Las Hormigas also include another renowned Tuscan winemaker, Attilio Pagli, and terroir specialist Pedro Parra. The vineyards have expanded from their traditional Luján de Cuyo terroir to select micro terroirs in the Uco Valley with emphasis on Gualtallary and Paraje Altamira.
Their fascinating Paraje Altamira vineyard is one of the world’s first vineyards to be planted purely based on soil parcels and terroir units with an irregular vineyard formation.
Altos Las Hormigas makes an exceptional range of good value Malbec, red blends and white Semillon in Uco and Luján de Cuyo under the hand of young winemaker Federico Gambetta. Over recent years the focus has increasingly been on single-vineyard wines and terroir-specific expressions of Malbec with a key focus on their newly planted vineyard in Paraje Altamira as well as Gualtallary in the Uco Valley.
Altos Las Hormigas’ vineyards and winery are certified as organic since 2012, work largely biodynamically in the vineyard, and in 2021 they’ve adopted the sustainability protocol from Bodegas de Argentina.
The same team also makes Bonarda wines with their sister-label, Colonia Las Liebres.
Rutini is the fine wine arm of the Rutini family’s wine production (who also own Bodega La Rural). The Rutini family have been producing wine in Mendoza since 1885 although the Rutini winery today is a thoroughly modern production in the Uco Valley.
The family first planted vines in the Uco Valley in 1925 and their state-of-the-art winery was built in Tupungato in 2008. The new facility is gearing the wine production up to 6 million litres per year.
See also: Bodega La Rural
Bodega La Rural is the historic winery of the Rutini family who have been making wine in Mendoza since 1885. You can visit La Rural winery and its wine museum in Maipú for a free tour and tasting (one of the few free tours left in Mendoza).
In the wine bar you can also upgrade to taste some of the higher lines of wines from Bodega La Rural and Rutini.
See also: Rutini