El Montañista | Criollas Blancas

Avid mountaineers Pancho and Nuria Bugallo make artisan wines from heritage varietals in the Calingasta Valley between the Cordillera Frontal and the foothills of San Juan, north of Mendoza province of Argentina. Continuing the region's long history of wine making they work counter to modern Argentinian trends by celebrating old vine 'Criolla' grape varieties which are descended from the first grapes brought to South America by the Conquistadors in the 16th Century. Viticulture is organic and harvesting done by hand, with the wines aged in concrete eggs, resulting in fragrant, pure and vivid wines which show a pure distillation of their terroir.

The Criollas Blancas is a beautiful white blend that puts the 'Criolla' grapes front and centre. Sourced from 80-year-old vines, these include Torrontés Sanjuanino, Torrontés Mendocino, Malvasías Criollas and Maticha. A rocky, mineral mountain wine that combines tangy, fresh lemon acidity with a herbaceous sorrel-leaf note and a saline, stony finish.