It was 2004 when Thibaut Delmotte, a young French winemaker
living in Argentina, got the invitation to visit the remote mountain winery of
Colomé. It was supposed to be a four-hour
drive, and Thibaut took to the road in a small, economy rental car – which he
later learned was clearly the wrong vehicle for the trek. After an hour of driving, the paved road
ended. After several more hours driving
unpaved switchbacks into the mountains, he arrived at the remote destination
where he met Donald Hess – Swiss bottled-water entrepreneur, avid
art-collector, philanthropist, and winery owner.
I had the chance to meet Thibaut recently in New York, where
he discussed how he came to the winery and stayed to shape the distinctive
Malbecs from the sites in the Upper Calchaqui Valley, a highly elevated area in
the Salta region in the country’s northwest.
Colomé is the oldest continually-operating winery in Argentina. After the winery joined the Hess Family Wine
Estates in 2001, a new energy came to the area.
Donald’s philanthropic efforts brought better living conditions,
education, and cultural development to the remote wine region – as well as
sustainability in the vineyards.
Here are tasting notes on current vintages of Colomé’s wines
which I received as media samples:
Colomé Estate Malbec 2015, Salta, Argentina – Inky purple in color, the
wine offers blackberries on the nose and palate, with additional cranberry
notes and spice, with a long finish. The
wine has lots of body and mouth-filling dark fruit with an energetic acidity
keeping the wine in balance. The wine
retails for $30 – an excellent quality wine for this price range.
Colomé Auténtico Malbec 2016, Salta, Argentina – This wine is
from 90-year-old vines growing at 2,300 meters.
It is produced in a way that honors the traditions of wine-making in
this region. This wine was very aromatic
with vivid aromas of blackberries and floral notes. On the palate, the wine
offers plush black fruit and hint of spice with soft tannins and a long
finish. This wine is sold in the $24.99
range – again, a well-structured, fruit-forward wine that offers very good
quality at this price point.
Colomé Altura Maxima Malbec, 2014, Salta Argentina – The label denotes
that only 24 barrels of this special wine are made from the world’s highest
estate. The name of this wine means “maximum
height,” and it was a passion-project of winery owner Donald Hess, who hailed
from the land of the Alps, to plant the world’s highest elevation vineyard. At the height of 10,200 feet the vines are
exposed to more UV rays, which results in grapes with thicker skins to protect the
fruit from the sun’s rays. The thicker
skins offer deeper flavors and bigger structure in the wine. In addition, the
dramatic diurnal shift from day to night ensures good acidity. The wine spends 24 months in used barrels and
a year in bottle before release. The fresh,
inviting nose offers floral and blackberry aromas. On the palate, the wine is
hugely expressive, a bold Malbec with layers of flavor that include black and
red fruits, balsamic, and spice -- all against the backdrop of fine-grained
tannins. This special wine retails in
the price range of $119.
For a uniquely bold, full-bodied expression of Malbec – that’s
also sustainably farmed at staggering elevations – explore the wines of Colomé.
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