Our Wine Choice: Almacén de la Quebrada Cachí 2020

The Our Wine Choice series is about wines that speak to us and make us think. When we taste and rate a wine, it’s wise to initially approach it in an objective way and tease out its quality before judging it according to our own tastes, which change with our age, knowledge, and experience. But occasionally, some wines just jump out at you, and the  “wine quality first, taster style second” rule goes out the window.

This was true of the Almacén de la Quebrada Cachí 2020. It’s the kind of wine that cuts to the chase and speaks to you directly with its strong aromatic profile and singular character. Some would say it has the “wow” factor and some might say, “meh,” but either way it has a unique personality. This pure malbec’s distinctively enticing peppery aromatics set it apart, with rich, tarry but fresh fruit and exotic herbs like grilled thyme and rosemary. It’s an other-worldly malbec, coming from 2,450 meters altitude in Salta province, in northwestern Argentina.

The winemaker behind it, Alejandro Sejanovich, believes the use of stems in the fermentation process helps transport the local herbs to the glass. “For me, stems are part of the vineyard, and when you get the quality of the stems, I like to use them,” Sejanovich told me in a recent Zoom tasting interview. “The most important thing about the stems is not the tannins but the aromatics.”

I remember tasting the Cachí for the first time with Sejanovich’s winemaking partner, Jeff Mausbach, in Salta in early 2020, just before the pandemic. It was their first vintage and didn’t yet have a label on it. But the wine was already standing out and seemed even more unique than the other wines from their exceptional Salta estate, Estancia Los Cardones. It made me think of top Rhone syrahs – full of verve and energy, with a basket of peppery spices and herbs.

It’s the memory of that great discovery that enhanced my enjoyment of the current vintage. But even taking myself and that memory out of the equation, at the end of the day the wine is simply delicious and speaks for itself.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor