Back after a break in 2023, Los Amantes has reconfirmed its standing as one of the best reds in South America under the magic wand of Federico Gambetta and Alberto Antonini. Sourced from a young, one-hectare parcel in Paraje Altamira, it sits at the junction between Malbec and Pinot Noir, with ethereal scents of jarilla and rose petal, plum, redcurrant and black cherry flavours, a frisson of chalky minerality and some underlying grip and tension. Drink: 2027-35
The centerpiece bottling in the Alto Las Hormigas range is the 2024 Jardín de Hormigas Los Amantes, which derives from silty limestone soils with significant calcareous content and shallower topsoils than its Meteora counterpart. Fermented with a small portion of whole bunches and matured in botti for 15 months, it presents an altogether more sophisticated and serious expression of the site, while retaining the racy, sleek and tensile core that defines the house style. The bouquet is textbook Altamira in its visceral representation of violets, lavender, lilacs and wet stones, introducing a multifaceted mouthfeel that blends lacy refinement, weightless density and a sense of understatement that carries through a resonant, nuanced finish. Coursing throughout the wine is an elevated, crystalline purity that, while a hallmark of the range, reaches its apex here. Drink: 2028-2046
So much scented complexity. Aromas of fresh, sweet blueberries, grapefruit, red berries, violets, wild herbs and vivid lavender. Tannins are tight but also chiseled and al dente, with a medium to full body and a long but delicate finish. Already delicious, but can age for years.
