Colonia Las Liebres
Mendoza, Argentina
The Bonarda Clásica is the flagship wine of the Colonia Las Liebres winery in Mendoza.
A nearby vineyard of Bonarda was hit by an early violent hailstorm. Surprisingly a drastically reduced harvest ended up in highly concentrated and structured fruit. Alberto Antonini and Atiglio Paglia, the winemakers of Altos Las Hormigas winery - Malbec specialist in Mendoza, Argentina, noticed the potential of differently farmed Bonarda.
Until then the grape was mostly used in Argentina in blends and didn’t gather a lot of attention from the winemaking community. In 2003 Colonia Las Liebres (Colony of Hares), a winemaking project focused solely on Bonarda grape production was founded. It now spans 20 acres of organically farmed vineyards in parallel with exploring other parcels.
The winemaking style is optimally favoring concentrated fruit from selected terroirs, hence no oak treatment (only stainless steel and cement tanks ageing) and the use of indigenous yeasts. The wine is chewy, ink colored, dense in the nose with very well balanced. A number of wine experts in the winemaking industry noticed it and praised the quality and winemaking process.
Colonia Las Liebres, Bonarda Clasica 2017
"It is characterful and has the varietal personality, a little rustic, with juicy fruit and a chewy texture, really good with food. This wine clearly over-delivers for the price." - Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate - 90 points
