Wine Republic - Enoteca and Wine Merchant
2019 'Pasionado' Malbec, Andeluna
Bold, brooding, and beautifully composed, this high-altitude Malbec from Andeluna is pure mountain poetry in a glass. Deep violet in colour, it opens with aromas of black cherry, plum, and wild herbs layered with cocoa, graphite, and a flicker of spice. The palate is plush and powerful, yet perfectly balanced, ripe dark fruit wrapped in fine-grained tannins, lifted by cool Andean freshness. The finish is long, elegant, and laced with minerality, a graceful echo of the rocky soils that define the Uco Valley.
For when: The fire’s glowing, the food’s hearty, and you’re in no rush to leave the table.
Pairs with: Chargrilled steak, roast venison, or earthy mushroom dishes.
If this wine were: A mountain lodge at dusk it would be warm, grounded, and quietly spectacular.
Founded in 2003 in the high-altitude district of Gualtallary, Andeluna is a tribute to Argentina’s mountain spirit, where sunlight, altitude, and human passion converge. Sitting at 1,300 metres above sea level, the estate’s vineyards enjoy dramatic temperature swings that shape wines of intensity and finesse. The name Andeluna fuses Andes and luna (moon), a nod to the elemental forces that influence every vintage.
The Pasionado range represents Andeluna’s pinnacle: small-lot, barrel-aged wines made only in exceptional years. Crafted under the eye of winemaker Manuel González, the 2019 vintage shows remarkable purity, hand-harvested fruit from Gualtallary’s limestone-rich soils, fermented with native yeasts and aged for 18 months in French oak. The result is a Malbec that’s both majestic and precise the kind of wine that could only be born at altitude.