Explore delicate cherry flavours and polished tannins with Kaiken Aventura Valle de Canota Malbec. This complex Mendoza wine is distinguished by its elegant fruit concentration and refreshing acidity. Celebrate unique regional differences and explore new flavours with this excellent Malbec.

Critic Review

Decanter World Wine Awards: 90Pts Silver Medal

"Plummy fruit aromas with notes of damsons, baked figs and hints of violets. Very textured on the palate, slightly grainy tannins."
Decanter Panel for DWWA 2023

About the Producer

Kaikenes are wild geese, native to Patagonia, that fly across the Andes between Chile and Argentina. In the same way, Montes, the Chilean winery, crossed the Andes to set up in Mendoza. Their vineyards are situated in the heart of Mendoza and further to the south in Valle de Uco, where many of the premium producers are now sourcing their fruit. The focus is primarily on Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, a variety that has been somewhat forgotten as Malbec has surfed one wave of success after another in the past decade. As a result, there are many old vineyards in Mendoza that produce excellent fruit. Kaiken's own vineyards supply 70% of their production requirements and 30% is from vineyards that they control.

Vineyard and Winery

The Kaiken Aventura range celebrates Kaiken's ongoing exploration of new sub-regions and their regional differences within Mendoza. Located 22 miles from Mendoza city and surrounded by the Andean foothills, the Canota Valley was classified as a GI in 2019 (a 'Geographical Indication' signifys an area of particular quality). Although Kaiken planted vineyards in 2015, it is still largely unexplored with only a few producers operating in the Valley. It has very low annual rainfall and climatically is regarded as an Andean desert. The soil here retains moisture, thereby enabling viticulture. Harvest generally starts one month before the Uco Valley, which highlights the difference in climate between these sub-regions.

The grapes were harvested by hand at the end of March and then sorted manually at the winery. The grapes underwent prefermentation maceration for four days at 10ºC before fermentation for seven days at 24ºC in concrete tanks using selected and indigenous yeasts. Post-fermentation maceration lasted 20 days before the wine was transferred to and matured in separate concrete tanks for 12 months, then a further six months in bottle before release.