Cheval des Andes 2020

A “Grand Cru” from Argentina 

Cheval des Andes is the result of a joint venture between Château Cheval Blanc (Premier Cru Classé A, Saint-Emilion) and Terrazas de Los Andes, a pioneer of cool-climate, high-altitude winemaking in Argentina. 

The story of this union began in the late 1990s when Pierre Lurton, the president of Château Cheval Blanc, was in search of pristine Malbec vines. Finding these vines was a form of connecting to the origins of Bordeaux. For context, most of France’s Malbec was eradicated by the devastating phylloxera outbreak in the 1860s. Fortunately, many of these plantings were saved because of a practice called “grafting,” but the identity of this grape would be forever changed. Because of this, Pierre Lurton set his sights on Argentina, the one country home to a sea of ungrafted and unaltered Malbec vines. After discovering the Malbec vineyard Las Compuertas at the foot of the Andes Mountain range, Pierre knew he had stumbled upon something extraordinary. 

Though Cheval des Andes has achieved the milestone of its 20th vintage, the estate’s history is a long one. In the 1850s, the French transported plantings of Malbec vines from Bordeaux to Argentina, and these cuttings thrived in the country’s warmer temperatures and extreme terroir.  The cuttings of Malbec were spared from the French phylloxera outbreak at the turn of the century that nearly eradicated the Malbec vines in Bordeaux. The Las Compuertas vineyard was one property in the prestigious Luján de Cuyo region that would be planted with old Malbec in 1929. Seventy years later, these vines captured Pierre Lurton’s attention, inspiring him to create a wine that would uncover the origins of Bordeaux. 

The name “Las Compuertas” means “The Floodgates,” which is an homage to the irrigation methods used by the Incan people who were indigenous to this region. They would typically use a snowpack to water the vines from the Andes Mountain range. Interestingly, this method drowned phylloxera pests, which may be why most old vine Malbec was spared from the devastating outbreak that affected the rest of the world. The team at Cheval des Andes has refined this practice, collecting the snowpack from the Andes Mountains in snow reservoirs and then using it to irrigate the vines at this "Grand Cru" vineyard at the base of the Andes Mountains. They ensure that each parcel is planted in perfectly compatible terroir and harvested at the optimum date to ensure freshness. The Petit Verdot is imported directly from Château Margaux prior to being added to the final blend, depending on the vintage.

Located in one of the most renowned regions of Luján de Cuyo, in the north of Mendoza, Cheval des Andes spans 50 hectares. The richness of this exceptional terroir at the foot of the Andes mountain range enables the vineyard to cultivate two grape varieties: Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Cheval des Andes wine is a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot, which may sometimes be added depending on the vintage. This combination captures the intensity of Argentinian terroir mixed with the rigor, savoir-faire, and elegance of a great Bordeaux. Cheval des Andes creates the Grand Cru of the Andes, distinguished by freshness, elegance, and exceptional aging potential. 

The winemaking team crafts the finest possible expression of this unique terroir in a given year. Cheval des Andes wine is unique in Argentina as it reveals the freshness and elegance of the terroir through blends inspired by Cheval Blanc with cellaring potential and complexity. On the nose, they are complex, and on the palate, they reveal rich red fruit flavors that are smoothly blended with coffee and spices. The wine has a silky texture and delicious finish. 

The Cheval Blanc team started a biodiversity project on the property, ensuring that local birds and bees are attracted to their vineyards. After the vines are harvested by hand, they implement the vinification process, ensuring the final blend is nothing short of perfection. Cheval des Andes favors elegance and restraint over power and bold fruit, making it a stylistically unique wine from Argentina and a leader in the region. 

"The 2020 Cheval des Andes was harvested from the last of February for the first time ever. It was Gabillet's second vintage at Cheval des Andes, and that year, he had to start without waiting for Pierre Olivier Clouet and Pierre Lurton from Cheval Blanc; when they arrived, they had finished picking the Malbec, which surprisingly was fresher in Las Compuertas (because of the higher percentage of clay?) than in Altamira (where the vines suffered more stress), saving the freshness. They now harvest using cold trucks (for the first time), and they also started earlier in the morning (six in the morning, impossible earlier in Mendoza...), which he reckons was very good for the precision of the wine. They used 40% 225-liter barrels, 40% 400-liter oak barrels and 20% 2,500-liter foudres, half of them new and with an élevage of 15 months on average, depending on the lots and varieties from 12 to 18 months. The final blend was 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot, which makes a comeback, as it had not been used since 2016. The key was to finish the fermentation of the Petit Verdot without skins, and that way, they have been able to use it in the blends of 2021, 2022 and 2023 in small but increasing percentages. This is slightly riper than 2019, with a little more alcohol (14.5%) and with very good structural tannins but saving the freshness, and it has the spicy side from the Petit Verdot (Gabillet talks about white pepper). The wine has the ultra sleek and polished texture and the elegance and the balance that is the signature here; the wine is very clean and precise. I see very good regularity across the three vintages I tasted next to each other—this 2020 and the 2018 and 2019. Overall, this is a triumph over the adverse conditions of the vintage. They produced their usual 100,000 bottles (since 2018), as they are renewing their vineyards and want to keep the volume stable. They produce this volume from the 36 productive hectares they have in Las Compuertas and Altamira. There are some more changes: in 2020, they went for a lighter bottle, weighing 100 grams less than the one they used in 2018 and 2019 but close to 300 grams less than the bottle from before. It's also a slimmer bottle, always thinking about the environment. They are very focused on agroecology, accelerating the regenerative viticulture and using cover crops; they have planted 1,900 trees in the last three years, creating small clusters of biodiversity for birds. They have transplanted some centenary olive trees and keep their sheep and lamas on the property. Very green-minded." - Luis Gutiérrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (08/31/2023), Ratings: 98, Drink: 2024-2034

"Crushed raspberry plum in colour, vibrant and concentrated, juicy and balanced, has precision and succulence and carefully thought out delivery of tannins, grilled spices, nutmeg, liqourice, bilberry, damson and pomegrante. Great stuff, playing at a high level. Gérald Gabillet winemaker and director, LVMH owners." - Jane Anson, (07/03/2023), Ratings: 97

"The 2020 Cheval des Andes is a blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Malbec and 2% Petit Verdot from Paraje Altamira in the Uco Valley and Las Compuertas in Luján de Cuyo. Aged in French oak barrels, it's purple in the glass with a garnet sheen. The nose reveals a well-judged approach to the warmth of 2020, featuring ripe plum, redcurrant, mint and hints of white pepper over a bed of bay leaf and cedar. It's dry and velvety on the palate, with rich, polished tannins that deliver a juicy, balanced mouthfeel. The balsamic notes and rich palate reflect the year's character, while the finish is dynamic and long-lasting." - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous, (06/01/2023), Ratings: 96