The Argentine Malbec You Can’t Buy in Any U.S. Store — and the “Illogical” Vineyard at 8,950 Feet Behind It
Agustín Lanús was the first to make wine in a remote Argentine valley. He ferments it in concrete instead of oak. And 780 bottles of the 2019 are left.
The ribeye is resting under foil. The grill still ticks as it cools. You reach for the bottle you were told was bold. Big, dark, the kind that is supposed to stand next to red meat and fire.
You pour. You taste. It’s fine. Just fine. The steak did all the work, and the wine came along for the ride.
Why does the wine always let the meat down?
Most bold reds follow the same pattern. You did the homework and bought the bottle the label called powerful and structured. Next to a lamb chop off the coals, it still folds.
So many big reds taste alike: vanilla, toast, a soft roundness. On its own it reads as rich. Next to smoke and char it goes quiet. It sits on top of the fat instead of cutting through it.
The problem isn’t your cooking. The wine was built to taste like a style, not to stand up to a plate of grilled meat.
So what makes a wine taste like a place?
Look at where the flavour comes from. Most red wine spends months in oak barrels, and the barrel adds the vanilla, the toast and the smooth edges you recognise. It is a flavour borrowed from the barrel, not from the grape or the ground it grew in.
Call it the barrel mask. It is why so many bold reds blur together. The oak covers what the fruit actually tastes like, and you end up drinking a technique instead of a place.
Take the mask off and something changes. Ferment the wine in plain concrete instead of wood, and nothing gets added. No vanilla. No toast.
What is left is the fruit itself: the acid and the grip that cut through fat, salt and smoke instead of hiding under oak.
The catch is that the fruit has to be worth tasting bare. So where it grows suddenly matters more than anything.
What is the Malbec you can’t buy in any store?
Agustín Lanús was the first person to make wine in the Luracatao valley, high in Argentina’s Calchaquí region at 8,950 feet. It is the third-highest vineyard in the world. When he told his friends where he was planting, they called the idea ilógico. Illogical.
The name stuck. Sunal Ilógico Malbec comes from old vines and the yeasts that live on the grapes, and it ferments in concrete eggs. No oak. No barrel mask. The first vintage came out so dark it stained his stainless-steel vats red.
What reaches your glass is the valley itself.
Taste it with grilled meat. Black olive and violets on the nose, blackberry underneath, a graphite edge. Enough acid to cut the fat, and a grip that holds its shape against smoke.
This wine pushes back.
You won’t find it in a single U.S. store. It comes from Agustín to us to you, through the Bonner Private Wine Partnership, with no distributor and no retail shelf in between. There are 780 bottles of the 2019 left.
What are you actually getting?
Past the story, here is what arrives at your door, and why it is different from the last bold red that went quiet next to the grill.
Why people who cook over fire keep coming back to it
1The third-highest vineyard in the world shapes the fruit
Luracatao is a valley above the valley. You leave Cafayate, where the tour buses stop, and drive north up the Calchaquí for the better part of a day. The road turns to dirt. Up there the sun is harder and the nights are colder, and the grapes ripen slowly with thick skins. That is where the colour and the grip come from.
2Concrete instead of oak keeps the place in the wine
There are no barrels in the room. The old vines are fermented in concrete eggs with the yeasts from the vineyard, so nothing is added on the way. That is why the black olive and graphite come through clean. Pour it next to a bone-in ribeye and taste the acid cut the fat.
31,062 bottles went out in the last twelve months
People who try it order it again. Ronald wrote that his first order was six bottles and he wished he had ordered twelve. There are 780 bottles of the 2019 left in the warehouse, and when they are gone there is no distributor to reorder from.
4Direct from the man who made it
A bottle in a U.S. store passes through an importer, a distributor and a retailer, and each one adds a margin. The Ilógico comes from Agustín to the Partnership to you. That is why a wine from 8,950 feet is $40 a bottle, and six are $200.
5One purchase, and a promise if anything goes wrong
It is a one-time order: three bottles or six, paid once, and nothing renews. An adult 21 or older signs for the box, and we hold shipments in extreme heat so the wine arrives right. If a bottle arrives damaged, corked or spoiled, we replace it or credit you. Write to us and we sort it out.
What do buyers say?
Bonner holds 4.8 out of 5 across 129 Google reviews. These are four of them, unedited.
Amazing price, great wine. Really shocked by the level of quality of product.
I just received my first order of Argentine Wine and the first 2 bottles are GREAT. My order was 6 bottles and I wish I had ordered 12 bottles.
I have absolutely enjoyed the Malbec wines delivered from the high altitudes. There is no comparison and 100% worth every penny.
Loved the wine. Premier bottles you cannot buy at your local liquor store.
What to expect from six bottles
This is not a wine you have to bury in a cellar. Here is how a case usually goes, from tonight’s ribeye to a couple of years from now.
The first pour
Open it when the meat goes on, not when it comes off. Black olive and violets on the nose. It smells like a place, not like a barrel.
The pairing
Second bottle, next to a bone-in ribeye or lamb off the coals. The acid cuts the fat and the grip holds against the char. This is the bottle the page is about.
The question at the table
Someone asks what it is. You tell them about the valley at 8,950 feet and the winemaker whose friends called it illogical.
The last two bottles
It drinks well now and will hold for the next two to three years. Most people keep one or two back for a dinner that deserves it.
Tasting notes from the winemaker and our own tastings. Everyone’s palate is different. 21+.
How does it stack up?
Put it beside the oaked bold reds you have been pouring with grilled meat, and the difference shows before you taste it.
Most Malbec on U.S. shelves
- Grown about a mile lower, around Mendoza
- Aged in oak for vanilla and toast
- Importer, distributor, retailer
- On grocery and liquor store shelves
- A price built on three margins
- Made in volume for the shelf
Sunal Ilógico Malbec 2019
- 8,950 ft, the third-highest vineyard in the world
- Fermented in concrete, no oak
- From Agustín to the Partnership to you
- Not sold in any U.S. store
- $40 a bottle, six for $200
- Old vines, native yeasts, one small valley
Get Sunal Ilógico Malbec 2019
Sunal Ilógico Malbec 2019
- Sold in the U.S. only through the Bonner Private Wine Partnership
- 8,950 ft, the third-highest vineyard in the world
- Old vines, native yeasts, concrete instead of oak
- One-time purchase. Three bottles are $120. Nothing renews
Questions worth asking before you order
The fair ones: why trust an unfamiliar label at this price, is there a catch, and what happens if something arrives broken.
Why is it only $40 a bottle?
No distributor, no importer’s cut, no retail tier. The wine comes from Agustín to us to you, and we don’t charge big markups. The bottle costs what it costs.
What does it taste like?
Black olive and violets on the nose, blackberry underneath, and a graphite edge that keeps it dry. Enough acid to cut fat and enough grip to survive smoke. Drink it now and over the next two to three years.
Is this a wine club or a subscription?
No. It is a one-time purchase: six bottles or three, paid once. Nothing renews and nothing is charged later.
How does the $40 off work?
Put six bottles in your order and $40 comes off automatically at checkout: six bottles at $40 is $240, and you pay $200. Three bottles are $120, and three is the minimum we ship.
Where does it ship, and what if a bottle arrives damaged?
Across the United States except Arkansas, Delaware, Mississippi and Utah. No P.O. boxes, and an adult 21 or older signs for the box. If a bottle arrives damaged, corked or spoiled, we replace it or credit you.
780 bottles of the 2019 left
Sunal Ilógico Malbec 2019
The third-highest vineyard in the world, fermented in concrete with no oak, made by the first winemaker in the valley. Built for grilled meat.
Get six bottles for $200 →
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