Vinedo los Flaneurs is located in the heart of the “Terroir de Malbec”, with highly esteemed wine making neighbors such as Casarena, Achaval-Ferrer, Vina Cobos, Mendel Wines, Chandon, Norton, Terrazas de los Andes,, Ruca Malen, Sottano, and too many others to mention. It was an extremely rare and fortunate set of circumstances that presented themselves all at once to make obtaining this property possible.
We are located near the south side of the Mendoza River, which allows the cool mountain air to flood the valley in the evenings, intensifying the strength of the skins, and developing the deep rich purplish black fruit characteristics found in a fine Malbec. This combined with the hot daytime sun and cool evenings at this altitude gives the region a very high diurnal temperature. What this means is that the ripening process turns itself off at night, thereby greatly extending the growing season, ensuring the Malbec gets the perfect balance of sugars and acidity which is so difficult to obtain in most other regions. We also happen to believe that the pure beauty of being in the shadow of the Andes cannot help but raise the quality and improve the flavor of everything in Mendoza. Those of you who have been to Mendoza will know exactly what we mean.
The alluvial soil in Perdriel, due to it’s proximity to the river, has what could be described as gravely loam and clay loam on a base of riverbed stones. The soil here does not have as much organic matter as some of the other areas that are also amenable to Malbec, so this free draining soil forces the vines to dive deep for nourishment and water, which forces them to put all their effort into creating small, extremely concentrated berries with low water content. This is what gives the wines their richness, complexity, and tannins. Even though Mendoza is a semi-arid region, water is used sparingly, and irrigation methods date back hundreds of years. Even if you do not use a lot of water, it is something that you must have when you must have it. We are very fortunate to not only have water rights, but to also have two alternate sources for water, including our own well.
The benefits our terroir provides for the Malbec also allows us the the privilege of being able to grow very rich, fruit driven Chardonnay. Our first years entire production is already bottled as a sparkling wine, which will be known as Elisabeth. Early indications are that we will have a very fresh and refreshing wine with strong hints of grapefruit and sunshine.
