Parker’s Best Buy Malbec and Noemia A Lisa offer

This Wednesday we're offering 2 Argentine Malbecs - the gorgeous Malbec Clasico from Altos Las Hormigas, named by Decanter Magazine as one of the top 10 producers in Argentina and a regular in the Wine Advocate's Best Buy list and a very limited offer deal with a dramatic price reduction on just 48 btls of boutique Patagonian winery Bodega Noemia.

"Wow! Readers may be sure I will be buying these wines for my own cellar." - Robert Parker, Jr. Altos Las Hormigas was conceived in 1995, successively followed by their first bottling in 2007. Located in Lujan de Cayo, Mendoza, Argentina this is a venture that speaks Spanish with an Italian accent. The founders of Altos recognised the enormous potential and exciting challenge of old vine Malbec grown in the warm climate of Mendoza and aimed to craft supple, deeply fruited and concentrated wines. Over the last 2 years Altos have brought on some top consultants who have helped to take their wines to the next level - in particular terroir/soil expert Pedro Parra who has refocused the vineyards on new limestone areas combined with gravelly clay in Gualtallary, Altamira and Vists Flores and drastically reduced the number of contract growers by 80% (more details on this project and the positive effects of same on the wine can be found in the article "Pedro Parra in Mendoza" on jancisrobinson.com).

Bodega Noemia is located in the Rio Negro valley, 620 miles south of Buenos Aires, and is a venture between the Countess Noemi Marone Cinzano (of Brunello's Tenuta di Argiano) and Argiano's Danish, Bordeaux trained winemaker Hans Vinding Diers. This is a truly unique terroir distinguished by extreme dryness, huge temperature fluctuations and a pure, pristine atmosphere - but Hans picked this area because he discovered and purchased some old Malbec vineyards dating from the 1930s and 1950s and had been blown away by the taste of these wines. Noemia wines are produced in tiny quantities and it's very unusual to find them on sale - in this case only because the arrival of the 2011 vintage is imminent.