This was a great year for Altamira, despite a harvest marked by weather difficulties for most vineyards in the Uco valley. The valley received more rainfall in January and February than in any time in the last 50 years. And, on the night of April 13th -14th, the temperature dropped to -6C, freezing any grapes which had not been picked. Having picked all our grapes before the night of the 13th, we were able to make it through the weather without any problems. In fact, our grapes came into the winery with excellent sugar levels, and within the first 5 days of fermentation we knew we had something special. The harvest resulted in our having 4,725 liters of Merlot, 5,175 liters of Malbec and 2,250 liters of Cabernet Sauvignon.

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The wine was aged in 100% new French oak. The Merlot and Malbec come entirely from our old vines at La Consulta vineyard. The harvest of both varieties was truly exceptional, and we believe Altamira 2008 is an excellent wine. We blended this wine in June 2009. The final blend selected is approximately 40% Merlot, 30% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was returned to the oak for additional aging and bottled on May 20, 2010. There are 10,000 bottles, and the expected release is late 2011.