Verticality and horizontality are relatively new concepts used to describe and interpret the wine that have become gradually established among wine lovers in the past few years. These two terms emerged when, the attributes associated with the tactile feel of reds and whites became relevant, beyond aromas and flavours. This way, texture and tension, just like other features such as austerity and minerality in the mouth, are expressions that help us put other sensations aroused by wines into words.
In a situation in which very different top quality wines coexist, verticality and horizontality make up another of the major divisions that distinguish wines. Vertical wines are not better or worse than horizontal ones, they are just different. Choosing one or the other will thus depend on the consumer’s profile, the consumption situation and their pairing with meals.
In the case of Malbec, in Mendoza, this varietal acquires different profiles –more vertical or horizontal– in function of the region where fruits are harvested. A Malbec wine is horizontal when it produces an abstract feel of horizontality in the palate, as they are broad in the mouth. These are fatty, unctuous wines that are sweet and highly perceived in the palate. On the other hand, vertical wines are more straight-forward, agile and austere, in addition to the sharpness, less fruity and more mineral profiles in which the soil’s stamp stands out.
This tactile sensation developed by Malbec wines is closely related to the identity of the terroir where the grapes used to make them are harvested. Horizontal wines tend to originate in deeper, sandy, loamy-sandy and clay-loam soils, such as Luján de Cuyo, expressing a more fruity character. Furthermore, these are deeply coloured, rounded and feature sweet tannins.
The Luigi Bosca De Sangre line includes two Malbec wines that clearly express this differentiation in the world of wines.
For their part, vertical Malbec wines are usually made in stonier areas of less deep and austere soils, in some cases with the presence of calcium carbonate, which provides the wine with a special identity. These mineral components used to feed the roots of vines directly influence the perceived feel of this type of wines in the mouth.
The Luigi Bosca De Sangre line includes two Malbec wines that clearly express this differentiation in the world of wines. Made from grapes grown in select plots of vineyards planted in different areas of Luján de Cuyo, Luigi Bosca De Sangre Malbec D.O.C. is the faithful exponent of horizontal ripe wines. Besides being sweet at core, they are soft, silky, unctuous, and elegant in the mouth.
Conversely, Luigi Bosca De Sangre Malbec Paraje Altamira is born in select plots from Finca Miralejos, situated in Paraje Altamira, Uco Valley. In this wine, its terroir’s stony soil with calcareous material is expressed by its characteristic mineral aroma, in addition to its fresh and vertical palate, of great tension and nerve and balanced acidity, which adds fluidity. This is undoubtedly the great exponent of Mendoza’s vertical Malbec wines.
