MAAL, The many faces of Malbec - from familiar to forward, from nostalgia to novelty
Taking the old and upcycle it to the new creates room for connection and bringing people together
Jan de Weerd, Spoken Wines
This will hide itself!
MAAL, The many faces of Malbec - from familiar to forward, from nostalgia to novelty
Taking the old and upcycle it to the new creates room for connection and bringing people together
Our visit to MAAL Wines in Luján de Cuyo offered an in-depth look at the winery’s dedication to expressing the "many faces of Malbec". Our host, Jordi, introduced us to the winemaking process, followed by an engaging discussion with Matías, one of the founders, who shared MAAL's mission of ‘less is more’ and staying laser focused on Malbec, the grape of Mendoza.
MAAL - MAtias and ALfredo
Founded in 2010 by Alfredo Merlo and Matías Fraga, MAAL focuses on solely crafting Malbec wines that fuse traditional techniques with refreshing, innovative ways. By choosing vineyards that express the wine styles they desire, they produce a range of wines that reflect Mendoza’s terroir while allowing the natural characteristics of the Malbec grape to shine.This approach created a portfolio that ranges from a delicate sparkling Blanc de Noir made from Malbec on one side of the spectrum to a bold, full-bodied deep dark red Malbec on the other side and everything in between.
Matias pouring one of the many 'faces of Malbec'
Showcasing the versatility of Malbec with precision
Wines are made in a traditional way, but the winemaking techniques applied are expressing the Malbec grape in many unique, refreshing ways with great precision. This allowed MAAL to create a surprisingly wide range of Malbec wines from a ‘white’ Malbec, or a Pinot style light red, to an unoaked pure fruit driven Malbec or the traditional, intense, deep dark, full bodied Malbec. By making specific, narrower version expressions of Malbec, MAAL wines serve very well in culinary food pairings where the precision of the wine can be optimally matched with the flavor of the food.
The wide range of expressions from the familiar to the novel attract both the older and the younger generations to MAAL, where, what wine does so well, conversations can start.
Winemaker Facundo Azzoni, the Malbec Wishperer
Upcycling
Creating something stunningly new out of the old. They made their first wine from an old abandoned vineyard. Proceeded to build a winery and tasting room facility from old reused materials creating a unique gathering place. It mirrors MAAL's ethos of innovation with sustainability. And, who knows, perhaps it reflects Matías mother, who was an artist of re-used plastics. In our interview Matías mentioned that he was late for school more than once when his mom, giving him a ride, eyed something along the roadside that was usable and could be repurposed. A trait engrained in MAAL.
