Reserve Your Calchaquí Wines Today for Huge Savings!
PLEASE NOTE: Wines are first come, first served. Once all cases have been claimed, this offer will close.
Exclusive Partnership Member Access:
Get Up To 20% OFF Small-Batch, Limited-Production Calchaquí Valley Wines
vast, alien landscapes… The thin blue sky… miles of dry desert plains… Today, we’re bringing wines from the legendary vineyards of the Calchaquí Valley to you!
A note from Bonner Private Wine Partnership founder, Will Bonner:
Dear Member in Good Standing,
It’s been almost four years since we launched the Bonner Private Wine Partnership with a single shipping container packed with wines from the foothills of the Andes mountains.
The stars of the show then were two malbecs from the extreme altitude Calchaquí Valley – our own Tacana (from the Bonner family ranch at Gualfin) and Sunal Ilógico (from an even higher vineyard at Luracatao several hours up the valley).
This collection is, even for Calchaquí aficionados, a step out of our comfort zones. You’ll notice only two single varietal malbecs…
Raúl Dávalos (the reclusive winemaker behind Tacana, RD, Mayuco, and many others) is experimenting with an 80-year-old plot of an indigenous grape called “criolla chica”…
Winemaker Claudio Maza is intent on finding wine grapes in places no wine grape should grow, like the bottom of a dry ravine that has seen its share of bloodshed and disaster over the past 500 years…
And Agustín Lanús is back, too, this time armed with cabernet franc, a peppery grape originally from the Basque country…
Today, we’re opening our cellar doors and giving you the chance to reserve wines from this incredible collection at a deep discount for a limited time…
You’ll receive 10% off your half case of 6 bottles… PLUS a whopping 20% off your full case of 12 bottles or more!
Simply scroll down to select your wines (available in cases of 6, 12, 18, or 24 bottles).
As always, shipping is ON US!
Cheers,
Will Bonner
Notice: We Expect These Wines to Sell Out
This selection of wines represents the best of the Calchaquí Valley. The winemakers of the Calchaquí are testing the valley’s frontiers. We have very few cases left over after the initial release. If you want more from this collection, do not wait.
Your Calchaquí Collection Cellar
Valle Arriba La Criollita | 2020 | Calchaquí Valley, Argentina
6,500 feet elevation
3,000 bottles produced
Criolla Chica
In the far north of the Calchaquí Valley, between 6,500 and almost 10,000 feet above sea level, are several micro-valleys, known locally as Valle Arriba. Since 2007, the Bodega Valle Arriba team has been studying each corner of this region, seeking to convey the exclusivity and originality of the Calchaquí Valley landscape through small batches vinified by Raúl Dávalos, sixth-generation wine-maker of Salta (and the man behind Partnership favorites Mayuco, RD, Unoak, and Doña Ascensión).
“La Criollita” celebrates the criolla chica grape, which is historically very important in Argentina; it was the first grape that Spanish mission priests planted in the country, and has been growing in Salta since the 16th century. Over the centuries abandoned plots went feral and spun off hybrids innumerable. Thus criolla has become a catch-all term for “we don’t know what it is or who planted it but it’s been here longer than we have.” Criolla chica tends to make lighter wines, so it was an interesting challenge for Raúl to create something fine, complex, and ageworthy
Sierra Lima Alfa Blend de Malbec | 2020 | Calchaquí Valley, Argentina
7,874 ft. to 8,530 ft.
Organic (Not Certified)
No Oak
93 Points, Tim Atkin
94 Points, Descorchados
In the trendiest restaurants of Buenos Aires, this is the wine everyone asks for. The winemaker is none other than Francisco “Pancho” Morelli Rubio, Raúl Dávalos’ cousin. The two collaborated on the first vintage of Doña Ascensión (we imported the 2019 for Partnership members last year).
Back in 2014 Pancho started his own project, Sierra Lima Alfa (sierra, lima, and alfa being the call sign for the Salta airport, SLA). Pancho is all about balance. For this 2019 vintage, he chose two extreme altitude vineyards of exceptional quality (Pucará and Molinos). He then fermented in stainless steel (unlike oak, it doesn’t impart flavor). Interestingly, he also kept contact between grape juice and skins to a bare minimum, which may be why Sierra Lima Alfa really does feel balanced in a way that most extreme altitude wines don’t (we’ll leave the debate over the merits of “balance” to you). Others seem to agree. 93 points (Atkin). 94 points (Descorchados).
Mugrón Winemakers’ Blend | 2020 | Calchaquí Valley, Argentina
7,454 ft.
5,971 Bottles Produced
12 Months, 70% Used French Oak Barrels
Big Aging Potential
Malbec, Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot
In 2020, winemaker Francisco “Paco” Puga’s use of the Burgundy bottle shape caught our eye, Bordeaux bottles being the norm in the Calchaquí. We wound up sourcing wines from him (L’Amitié and its reserve, Robusto) for our last two Calchaquí collections.
Paco’s love, other than Burgundy, is blending terroirs. In Mugrón he raises the stakes considerably, blending not just different terroirs, but different winemakers. Here, Paco has mixed his juice with that of three friends, Mariano Adamo, Claudio Maza, and Rafael Domingo.
Think of it like a battle of winemaking happening right on your palate as each winemaker tries to outdo the other. Find black fruit, spice, and desert herbs in the nose. Great structure in the mouth
El Viticultor Cabernet Sauvignon | 2021 | Calchaquí Valley, Argentina
5,900 Feet Elevation
Low Intervention
3,000 Bottles Produced
Cabernet Sauvignon
New year, new version of El Viticultor. Last year we sourced a malbec-cab blend. This year we take the single vineyard cab sauv for a spin. We had tried to source the latter last year too, but Daniel’s style of winemaking doesn’t lend itself to massive quantity. Lesson learned. This year we placed the order way in advance.
Daniel is of the “wine is made in the vineyard, not the bodega” school. The vineyard in question sits on a bed of basalt and sand at the Finca Rio Seco, just to the south of Cafayate, along Argentina’s Ruta 40 (their highway 66). He personally manages the plot, and at harvest time his family comes to help pick the grapes.
In this 2021, the pyrazines (red and black peppers) lead. But be patient. There’s lush dark fruit and cocoa on its way. (Plus a bit of leather in the nose?)
Bad Brothers Facón Selection Cabernet Franc | 2020 | Calchaquí Valley, Argentina
5,577 ft.
15 Months French Oak
4,000 Bottles Produced
Cabernet Franc
Agustín Lanús (longtime Partnership collaborator through his Sunal wines) specializes in high and extreme altitude wines. He is internationally renowned for his relentless pursuit of making excellent wines from vineyards located at the very limit of where wine grapes can be grown. These remote terroirs, located at over 7,800 feet above sea level, are incredibly challenging to work, requiring a drive of over 8 hours on some of the worst roads in South America.
The Bad Brother wines were born out of a long-time friendship between Agustín and international entrepreneur David Galland, who met while sharing their passion for long-distance horseback riding in the Andes. They decided to form a collaboration to make fine wines from the high altitude terroirs of Cafayate, Argentina.
Inimaginable | 2020 | Calchaqui Valley, Argentina
6,500 Feet Elevation
Big Aging Potential
3,200 Bottles Produced
Malbec
This bottle came to us on a tip from another winemaker. It‘s Claudio Maza’s second wine in this collection (he is one of the four winemakers for Mugrón).
Claudio loves a challenge: terroirs so inhospitable that planting wine grapes there should be “unimaginable.” As you can imagine, the Calchaquí has plenty of contenders for that title. Claudio found his own plot of hell in a small canyon to the south of Cafayate. Even by Calchaquí standards, the place is snakebit. Four early Spanish attempts to build missions there ended in disaster at the hands of local tribes. The Jesuits briefly succeeded in the 1600s, only to see their mission destroyed in the Calchaquí Wars.
Though at the lower end of the extreme altitude spectrum, that high altitude malbec “plum” note still sings loud and clear, accompanied here by fresh herbs. Intense in the mouth yet fresh and with a slightly toasted taste (from the oak).
Can’t Decide? Get A Case of All Six
2023 Calchaquí Valley Collection
Valle Arriba La Criollita 2020
Sierra Lima Alfa Blend de Malbec 2020
Mugrón Winemakers’ Blend 2020
El Viticultor Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
Bad Brothers Facón Selection Cabernet Franc 2020
Inimaginable 2020
Buy 6 & Save 10%: $249.99 $224.99
Buy 12 & Save 20%: $500 $399.98
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About the Bonner Private Wine Partnership
Founded by Will Bonner, the Partnership is a group of wine lovers who come together to import great, small batch wines that might otherwise get overlooked by large importers.
No middle men. No additive-packed supermarket wines. No inflated costs.
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A note about our Satisfaction Guarantee: Wines, sadly, are not like power tools. A hardware store can always resell a hammer you used a couple times. Not so for a bottle of wine. Once you pop the cork, it’s a total loss to us. For that reason, we cannot offer full refunds on these offers. But don’t worry, if the wine arrives and there’s something wrong with it, just give us a call and we’ll do what we can to make it right. As a Bonner Private Wine Partnership member, your satisfaction is all-important to us.
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