Moët Hennessy’s Terrazas de los Andes Tops Its Range With Extremo

Moët Hennessy’s Terrazas de los Andes, maker of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay from Argentina’s Mendoza region, is extending at the high-end with Extremo. The new Malbec is the pinnacle of the brand, sourced from the El Espinillo vineyard in Gualtallary in the Uco Valley. The luxury bottling retails for around $200 and tops Terrazas de los Andes’ Parcel series, which covers a series of single vineyard Malbecs from increasingly high-altitude vineyards. The brand refers to this progression as the Ascension Journey and it reaches its peak with Extremo and the El Espinillo vineyard at 1,650 meters (5,413 feet) above sea level.

In addition to releasing a halo wine for the portfolio, estate director Lucas Löwi tells SND that he and his team are working to boost the brand’s $45 Grand tier and bring new consumers into Terrazas’ $20 Reserva tier. Overall, Terrazas de los Andes was at 88,000 cases in the U.S. last year, according to Impact Databank. The brand is the second-largest still wine in the Moët Hennessy USA portfolio, behind Chateau d’Esclans.

The winery’s high-altitude vineyards are some of the oldest in the area, says Löwi, with at least one parcel of Malbec dating back to 1929. Since the 1990s, he says, the Terrazas de los Andes team has pursued winemaking at higher and higher elevations. “We wanted to have even more freshness and elegance in our wines and we needed to go up in altitude in order to achieve that,” he says. The vineyards used for Terrazas’ Parcel wines and Extremo were planted in the 2000s, with Extremo’s parcel planted in 2008.

Extremo, which is focused on the on-premise and collectors, is limited to 4,000 bottles per year, with the other Parcel wines offered in small allotments as well. “The wine has the ability to bring much more freshness than a regular Malbec,” he says. “At this altitude we have this perfect natural acidity. I think this wine will age beautifully and with a lot of grace because at the moment it’s super intense and herbal.”

More widely available, though still focused on the on-premise, is Terrazas de los Andes’ Grand tier. The winery’s Grand Malbec is at roughly 4,000 cases per year and brings together select high-altitude vineyards, including some used in the brand’s higher-end bottlings. “I fully believe that Terrazas de los Andes can continue to succeed with a premiumization strategy in which we accompany lower consumption with less production, but of better wines,” Löwi explains.

For the winery’s more affordably-priced Reserva tier, Terrazas has made a shift to lighter-weight bottles, a move that benefits both the environment and the estate’s bottom line. The switch, says Löwi, has reduced the Terrazas’ carbon footprint by 24%.

With consumers increasingly reaching for white wines, Löwi says that Terrazas de los Andes is increasing its Chardonnay plantings, and he’s confident that the winery’s style of Chardonnay fits current consumer tastes. “I’m a great believer in Chardonnay from Mendoza,” he says. “I believe Chardonnay is the one which shows the best value.” —Shane English

Tagged : argentina wine, Moet Hennessy, Terrazas de los Andes

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