New Year, New Wine Values!

Dear Friend,

As 2022 moves into the rear view mirror and we charge into 2023, one thing that has not changed is our commitment to finding more values for you! There are parts of the world that we can rely on to produce great quality, low-cost wine; Argentina is definitely one of those countries. Today, we are doubling down. Not only do we head to a country dependable for producing high value wines but adding to that a lesser-known varietal. This delicious bottle of wine has numerous 90+ scores and it is on sale for only $7.99 a bottle! Most of us are keeping an eye on our expenses right now, give this tasty wine a try. This is more proof you don’t have to spend a ton of wine to drink well.

Altos Las Hormigas was started in the mid 1990's when Italian winemaker Alberto Antonini and his entrepreneur friend Antonio Morescalchi took a trip to visit the growing wine regions in Argentina. In Mendoza, they saw right away that these high-altitude vineyards had a perfect climate to grow excellent grapes and returned to Tuscany eager to get started. The name comes from the difficulties the workers faced when planting the vineyards in 1996. Local ants (Las Hormigas) tried to feverishly eat the young vine sprouts, destroying many acres of vines, sometimes overnight. They wanted to find an organic solution to the problem and not poison the insects which took much longer than expected, so the name Altos Las Hormigas is tribute to the “humble, patient, and dedicated" ant.

In 2000, the owners of Altos Las Hormigas discovered the potential of Bonarda by accident and by 2003 started a sister winery, ‘Colonia Las Liebres’, dedicated to this fairly unknown varietal at the time. Argentina Bonarda is a different grape than Italian Bonarda. It is actually the same as a French grape called Douce Noir, but in America, we also call it Charbono. The wines tend to be fruity on the nose, getting more serious as you taste. This offering today has no oak and is medium bodied with very light tannins. Fans of Pinot Noir or Gamay should give this a try.

If you are interested in today’s featured wine, please reply to this email, call your nearest location, or follow this link to order. Curbside pickup or delivery is available. It is very rare to taste such an inexpensive wine that offers so much depth of flavor. I was honestly pretty stunned when I opened up a bottle of this organic wine last week. There is low tannin and some nice zesty acidity, I think the best pairings would be for lighter meats like chicken or pork, or even richer fish like salmon. A perfect mid-week wine with burgers or pizza too. I would definitely recommend trying a bottle or two and if you enjoy this as much as I do, grab a case. It would be a great red wine for larger gatherings.

Sincerely,

Alek Leontie

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