"The super intense 2018 Altura Máxima Malbec has notes of black olives, soy sauce, decayed violets, ripe fruit and exotic spices and woods, and it feels very different from the rest of the range. This is an exceptional wine from one of the highest commercial vineyards in the world, reaching 3,111 meters above sea level. The palate is full-bodied, and the wine is very intense and ripe at 14.5% alcohol. In 2018, they harvested earlier, the equivalent to the 1st of October in the Northern Hemisphere. It's full-bodied, round, large, concentrated and powerful, exceptional and different. 8,400 bottles were filled in August 2020 after spending 24 months in used barrels."

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"The 2018 Malbec Altura Maxima is made with grapes from a vineyard planted at a height of 3100 feet in Payogasta, Calchaquí Valley and was aged for 24 months. A high altitude red, it presents a ripe, balsamic nose with notes of redcurrant and hints of bay leaf, plum jam and chutney. In the mouth, it’s sheer intensity and juice with heightened freshness and finely grained tannins that underline the lengthy palate which delivers good grip and flavor. A wine of excellent aging potential and longevity."

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"A medium-to full-bodied red with perfumed aromas of violets, rose hips, brambleberries, cassis and rock salt. Concentrated, yet fresh with firm, finely knit tannins and tight layers of wild flowers and dark berries. Try from 2023."

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"Violet, plum and black cherry aromas shape the enticing and fragrant nose of this Malbec from extreme altitude. Hints of sage add complexity to the bouquet. Gripping tannins provide support to the flavorful palate with rich notes of black fruit and a touch of vanilla and spice. It's bold and crisp with a lingering finish."

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"Ripe aromas and concentrated flavors of roasted plum, tar and black licorice make for a dense, brooding style. Intense smokiness shows midpalate, with beefy accents on the finish. Best from 2021 through 2025. 900 cases made, 300 cases imported."

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"The ripe 2016 Altura Máxima Malbec seems to follow the path of the 2015, with pungent aromas of black olives, damp earth, decayed violets and malted cereals that give it a decadent profile. This hits the scale at 15% alcohol, but the palate feels a lot lighter, with a strong strike of acidity going through its core and lifting it up. This is a unique wine from grapes grown at 3,100 meters in altitude (yes, you read it correctly, that's 3,100 meters in altitude!) where the intensity of the light makes for thick skins and an explosion of flavors and aromas. The tannins are really fine and polished and give it a nice texture. It's clean and long and feels light but with lots of inner strength. A unique Malbec. 8,400 bottles were filled in August 2018"

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"Dark medium ruby. High-pitched scents of black fruits, bitter chocolate and violet. Wonderfully suave, thick and weightless, displaying terrific density and definition to its juicy flavors of blackberry, cassis and graphite minerality. What stands out most here is the wine's sophisticated silkiness of texture and light touch. A classic manifestation of high-altitude flavor intensity (this vineyard is on granite and calcaire soil at an altitude of 10,200 feet!), this broad, full-bodied beauty finishes with a firm tannic spine and a rising, tactile whiplash of flavor. Amazing Malbec--as impressive as any in Argentina. (15.3% alcohol, with acidity of 6.2 grams per liter; aged for 24 months in used French barriques)"

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"Donald Hess planted his Altura Máxima vineyard in 2007 at a dizzying 10,207 feet above sea level. Perhaps that’s why it takes this malbec takes time to emerge from hiding, though it’s saline from start to finish. After two days open, its structure is broad, and though the flavors are restrained (a smoky umeboshi plum note), the austerity called to mind a salt flat. The tannins seem to cluster in the center of your tongue, and would be nice with char-grilled chicken thighs."

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"The 2015 Altura Máxima Malbec is all black olives, decayed violets and malted cereals, a wild and unusual wine with high ripeness but a medium-bodied palate with fine-grained tannins. It is produced with grapes from their seven-year-old vineyard at 3,100 meters in altitude, the highest vineyard in the world producing commercial wine. The grapes were harvested fully ripe at the end of April, which is the equivalent to the end of October in the northern hemisphere. Here, latitude compensates for the altitude, and the grapes manage to ripen fully with strong exposure to sunlight. It matured in fourth use French barriques for 24 months. 6,900 bottles were filled in December 2017."

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