Riccitelli “This Is Not Another Lovely Malbec” 2021

“It’s a beast, but it’s a fuzzy beast that wants to be your friend.”

Mattías Riccitelli is perhaps one of the most highly-regarded personalities in Argentinian wine today. He’s known for making svelte, powerful, and textured wines–but without the use of any chemical manipulation, a key difference from some of the more commercial styles of wine that exist.

Riccitelli got his start around 2009, after having spent time with his dad doing winemaking, and making wine in Argentina and various places around the globe. His family moved from Salta to Mendoza and with such great access to mentorship and grapes, it was only a matter of time before he struck out on his own.

I first encountered Riccitelli’s wine when I was in Argentina. A few sommelier friends had encouraged me to seek them out, so I went shopping and searching at wine bars and restaurants, and our group was able to try some of their cuvées. It was the same thing that made me initially fall for the wines of Breton in the Loire, or Arnot-Roberts in California: purity, transparency, and precision. They weren’t natural wines that felt like they had something to prove, or were low-intervention just to give the finger to The Man. They were honest and pleasant and knew exactly what they wanted to be.

This wine, called “This is Not Another Lovely Malbec,” gives us a window into their style. It’s made using organically-grown grapes and low-intervention winemaking, and is focused completely on the purity and fruit of the raw product, and nothing else. In fact, when it was time to pick wines for this box, Riccitelli’s Malbec was at the top of my list, and thankfully we were able to get the quantity brought in that we needed! 

This Malbec leads with a ripe core of blue and black fruit–not the fuschia-colored, steroidal quality of cheap, mass-produced Malbec. This has a levity and freshness to it that invite you back in for sips #3-10. Underneath the ripe fruit are smoked peppercorns, beef brisket, and dried, crushed lavender. It’s a beast, but it’s a fuzzy beast that wants to be your friend.