Arca Yaco Amar Y Vivir Malbec – 2020

6,800+ feet
From the winemaking legacy of Bodega Etchart
Tim Atkin’s Wine of the Year 2020 & 2021

Founded in 1850, Bodega Etchart’s Arnaldo B. wine has won no fewer than 52 medals, including Gold at the Mondial de Bruxelles. But recently, Matias Etchart, the latest in the dynasty, decided to try something else. Arca Yaco is a small farm alongside a creek, nestled in an oasis high in the Calchaquí Valley. There, winemaker Matias Etchart harvests malbec and cabernet sauvignon grapes in the shade of fig and walnut trees.

The resulting wine, Amar y Vivir (a reference to an old bolero song sung by his uncle Arnaldo), is a personal statement – a memoir fermented and aged in oak. Instead of the more common 225 liter barrels, Matias chose 500 liter barrels, which soften the oak to a fleeting wisp. With a nose of wet earth, black fruit and wood, followed by tobacco, licorice, and pepper on the palate, Amar y Vivir is a wine to remind us, even in these times, that life is to be lived.