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Art, passion, detail: crafting an icon wine at Bodegas Bianchi
Chief winemaker Silvio Alberto explains the exacting decisions that go into the award-winning Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec 2021.
“If I had to define this wine, this wine is art, it is passion, it is detail,” says Silvio Alberto, chief winemaker at Bodegas Bianchi. He is describing one of the estate’s icon wines, the Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec 2021. It may seem a somewhat romantic summary – the Bianchi family, after all, originally came from Italy – but on a closer look, you can unocover the art, passion and detail that leads the winemaking. With international acclaim, including a recent Master medal at the Global Malbec Masters 2024 the romantic approach may, in fact, be a very successful one.
A sense of art is easy to see in the wine, since Alberto has mastered his own. One of Argentina’s most esteemed winemakers, he was CEO of Achaval Ferrer before taking on the role of chief winemaker at Bodegas Bianchi in 2018. Earlier this year, he was featured in the drinks business Master Winemaker Top 100.
Passion, meanwhile, is plain in the wine’s history. The entire winery project is one of passion, with four generations of the Bianchi family crafting wines in Mendoza for almost 100 years. From Valentin Bianchi emigrating from Italy in 1910 to his founding of the winery in 1928 to the fourth generation making its mark today, the close family has been led by passion.
Indeed, even the wine’s name is a recognition of passion. The Enzo Bianchi Gran Corte was launched with its first vintage in 1994, while the Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec joined it from the 2017 vintage. The duo pays tribute to Valentin’s son, Enzo, whose passion for Mendoza wine was at the forefront of the bodega’s winemaking efforts for 50 years.
Alberto’s third definition, however, explains the wine’s exceptional performance. Along with art and passion (indeed, as an expression of them) the detail behind Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec 2021 explains its status as an icon wine and a multi-award winner.
God is in the details
Attention to detail begins in Bodegas Bianchi’s vineyards. Although its first plantings were in San Rafael, around 230 kilometres southeast of the City of Mendoza, the vines that make Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec grow in Los Chacayes in the Uco Valley. This high-elevation subregion, rising into the Andes at the edge of the Mendoza Plain, was first planted with vines in 1996. It has since gained an impressive reputation for high-quality Malbec.
“Our vineyards,” explains Alberto, “are located at an altitude of 1,100 metres above sea level, and have a great thermal range and great solar exposure. They are the ideal setting to achieve a deep colour; fresh, red fruit; herbal notes; and sharp tannins. These are characteristic of the area, showing a natural and exceptional balance for the great quality of grapes that we achieve.”
Once hand-harvested at ideal ripeness, the grapes are transported to the winery. There, they undergo a cold-maceration for almost eight days. The process is designed to enhance complexity and, since there is not yet alcohol, extract the tannins very gently. According to Alberto, it is “the most important part of the entire production process.”
Following a very strictly controlled fermentation, the wines are aged for 12 months, divided among vessels for complexity. 10% of the wine ages in amphorae, adding an element of “naturalness”. The remainder rests in oak, crafting a balance between flavour influence and oxygenation, with 20% new French oak and the remainder second- and third-use French oak.
“The history and all the years of experience, put into the process of this wine, make this a search for perfect balance,” says Alberto. At less than 10 years old, the cuvée is still searching for perfection. Yet the combination of art, passion and detail seems to have made a commanding start.
Enzio Bianchi Gran Malbec 2021 won a Master medal at the Global Malbec Masters 2021. Patrick Scchmitt MW’s tasting note is below.
Enzo Bianchi Gran Malbec 2021
- Producer: Bodegas Bianchi
- Region: Los Chacayes Valle de Uco
- Country: Argentina
- Vintage: 2021
- Grape varieties: 100% Malbec
- ABV: 14.5%
- Residual sugar: 2.6g/l
- Approx. retail price: £45
- Medal: Master
The sort of deeply-coloured, massive and delicious wine that has made Malbec famous the world over. Opaque with a purple rim and an enticing set of scents, from creamy vanilla to toast, cherry and blackberry, it promises so much before it has even been sipped. Then there’s the taste and mouthfeel, which is, as expected, intense, with concentrated pure ripe blackcurrant and blackberry fruit, fleshy plums, cherry compote, then cracked black pepper, milk chocolate and charred baguette. The finish is warming, but also refreshing due to a mass of fine ripe dry tannins. Just so much to enjoy and digest – yes, this is a wine not so much to drink as to eat. I’m getting out my knife and fork.
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