Fabre Montmayou finds its roots in the breathtaking landscape of Luján de Cuyo where vineyards sweep across the background of the snow-capped Andes in the near distance. More than what merely meets the eye, Luján de Cuyo was the first delineated wine appellation and is widely considered the most desirable appellation of the Mendoza region. Roughly 70% of Argentina’s wine hails from Mendoza for good reason. Nestled in the foothills of the Andes and around 1,000km from the Atlantic, this region enjoys an abundance of sunshine, thanks to the Andes mountain range’s rain shadow effect, coupled with high altitudes, which makes it incredibly favorable to Bordeaux varietals, particularly Malbec. Perched along the upper Mendoza Valley at over 3800 feet in altitude, Luján de Cuyo enjoys the most premium real estate and advantageously strides the Mendoza River’s path from the Andes to the plains. It is here that a Frenchman found a home in Argentina where he could craft incredible red wines.

 

Hervé Joyaux Fabre hails from a family of Bordeaux negociants. He moved to Argentina in the early 1990s, which was the infancy of the wine industry’s transformation there. With the vision to see Malbec’s potential in Luján de Cuyo’s soils, he purchased incredibly old Malbec vineyards that date back to 1908. Perched at 3800 feet in elevation, he built the Fabre Montmayou winery at the epicenter of his first thirty-seven acres of Malbec. It’s here that Monsieur Fabre has maintained a small production and high quality operation ever since. His vineyards, comprised predominantly of loamy sand with a stony layer below, are farmed traditionally without the use of herbicides. He utilizes short pruning and green harvesting to strictly manage yields and maintain the highest quality. Following manual harvest, clusters are hand-sorted prior to destemming then grapes receive another pass on the sorting table. Fermentation is done through native yeasts in temperature-controlled tanks where the wine goes through four gentle pump-overs daily during a thirty-day maceration. The wine is gently fined with egg whites following sixteen months in French Oak. The 2011 Grand Vin, Fabre Montmayou’s flagship wine, is derived from 85% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. Again, if you love high-end Bordeaux or cult Napa Cabernet, this wine, with its fruit in perfect balance with complex aromas, is something you will absolutely love and will serve as proof that Argentina is delivering some of the best price-to-quality red on the planet.