Bodega Calle Alberti 154 Malbec Reserva 2018

Bodega Calle is a small-lot, gravity-flow wine studio located in the prized viticultural area of Luján de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Both a house and winery, Alberti 154 is the street address for this off-the-beaten path, well-kept secret. The winery is named in honor of the winery founder, the late Ms. Elvira Calle, a famous businesswoman who owned the most important newspaper in Mendoza and was in her later years a prominent philanthropist. The winery concentrates on single-varietal wines and premium red blends; all fruit is hand-harvested and the wines are made with the use of gravity—never pumped— to ensure soft and silky wines.

We met and tasted wines with one of the current owners, Kirk Ermisch, and fell in love with the wines from Bodega Calle. Their Malbec Reserva 154 comes from three prized viticultural areas of Mendoza: Perdriel, Agrelo, and Drummond. The fruit is hand-harvested, all indigenous yeasts are used, and the wine is aged 10 months in French oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered.