Achaval-Ferrer

Achaval-Ferrer was founded in 1998, and its original winemaker was Roberto Cipresso. In April 2011 SPI Group, a spirits company that owns Stolichnaya vodka and holds shares in Tenuta dell'Ornellaia and Marchesi de' Frescobaldi, bought a share of Achaval-Ferrer for an undisclosed amount. Cipresso sold his shares in order to buy out his partners at his Montalcino-based winery, Fattoria La Fiorita, and continued to work with Achaval-Ferrer as a consultant. Santiago Achával and Manuel Ferrer kept control of the board, and Achával remained president of the winery. Achaval-Ferrer is part of the Tenute del Mondo wine group. In 2025 the winery added Finca Nazarenas, from a vineyard in Agrelo planted in 1923, as the fourth wine in its Finca range.

• 1998: Achaval-Ferrer founded.
• April 2011: SPI Group, owner of Stolichnaya vodka, bought a share of the winery; Santiago Achával and Manuel Ferrer kept control of the board.
• 2011: Roberto Cipresso, the original winemaker, sold his shares and continued as a consultant.
• 2025: Finca Nazarenas launched as the fourth wine in the Finca range.

Gustavo Rearte is named as winemaker on the winery's wine pages; he was also the winery's winemaker in September 2023. Roberto Cipresso was Achaval-Ferrer's original winemaker and continued to consult for the winery after selling his shares in 2011. At the time of the 2011 SPI Group deal, Santiago Achával Becú was the winery's president and, with his partner Manuel Ferrer, kept control of the board.

• Gustavo Rearte: winemaker.
• Roberto Cipresso: original winemaker; consultant after 2011.
• Santiago Achával Becú: president (as of 2011).
• Manuel Ferrer: Achával's partner, sharing control of the board (as of 2011).

The winery presents its vineyards as centennial, own-rooted vines, extremely low in yield, irrigated by the Tunuyán and Mendoza rivers; the vines are planted densely, at an average of 2,600 plants per acre. Finca Bella Vista, planted in 1910 at 990 meters above sea level, lies in Perdriel on the south bank of the Mendoza River, on alluvial soils with a 40 cm sandy layer and pebbles. Finca Mirador, planted in 1921 at 700 meters, lies in Medrano on the west bank of the Tunuyán River; its alluvial soils carry an 80 cm layer of clay over deeper layers of pebbles, and it is furrow-irrigated from west to east. Finca Altamira, planted in 1950 at 1,050 meters, lies 20 meters from the Tunuyán River and is lined by old chestnut trees; a 30 cm layer of sand and volcanic ash sits over eroded rocks and volcanic sediments from the Tupungato volcano. Finca Nazarenas, planted in 1923 at 950 meters in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, has ungrafted vines on alluvial loam-clay soils more than 1.5 meters deep, with gravel at depth.

• Bella Vista: planted 1910, 990 m, Perdriel (Luján de Cuyo).
• Mirador: planted 1921, 700 m, Medrano (Junín).
• Altamira: planted 1950, 1,050 m, Altamira (Uco Valley).
• Nazarenas: planted 1923, 950 m, Agrelo (Luján de Cuyo).

All four Finca wines are made in exactly the same way. Bunches and grapes go through a double selection, and fermentation takes place in small concrete tanks without cold pre-fermentation maceration, filtration or bleeding off; daily open pump-overs keep the grapes' natural acidity, and fermentation ends with a gentle pressing determined by daily tasting. Malolactic fermentation takes place in new French oak barrels, where the wines age for a maximum of 14 months, and they are bottled at the winery unclarified and unfiltered. Finca vineyard yields are 2,500 kg per hectare, and the grapes are handpicked into 12 kg boxes. For Quimera, the winery's 'warm-blend' method sets the assemblage by tasting and selecting grapes before harvest; each variety ferments separately in cement tanks at 29 to 32 degrees Celsius, and the blend is then aged for 15 months in French oak barrels.

• Fincas: concrete-tank fermentation with no cold pre-fermentation maceration, filtration or bleeding off.
• Malolactic fermentation and up to 14 months of ageing in new French oak barrels.
• Bottled at the winery unclarified and unfiltered.
• Quimera: each variety fermented separately in cement tanks at 29 to 32 degrees Celsius, then 15 months in French oak.

The Fincas collection is the winery's four single-vineyard Malbecs: Finca Bella Vista, Finca Mirador, Finca Altamira and Finca Nazarenas. As of April 2025, around 5,370 bottles of Finca Nazarenas 2021 were available, against 12,582 bottles of Finca Bella Vista, 10,861 of Finca Mirador and 10,033 of Finca Altamira. Quimera is a red blend; its current listing is 48% Malbec, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 13% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot. Quimera Blanco 2022 is 63% Chardonnay, 23% Sémillon, 10% Viognier and 4% Sauvignon Blanc, all from Tupungato in the Uco Valley, with a production of 8,500 bottles. The Mendoza line covers Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc; the Mendoza Malbec is 100% Malbec from Luján de Cuyo, Medrano and the Uco Valley, aged 9 months in two-year-old French oak barrels. The range also includes the Singular collection of varietal wines (Carmenere, Syrah, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Petit Verdot), an Appellation series from Luján de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, the Quimerino red and white blends, and Dolce, a Malbec made from naturally dehydrated grapes that is not a fortified wine.

• Fincas: Bella Vista, Mirador, Altamira and Nazarenas, all 100% Malbec.
• Quimera: red blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
• Quimera Blanco 2022: 63% Chardonnay, 23% Sémillon, 10% Viognier, 4% Sauvignon Blanc; 8,500 bottles.
• Mendoza line: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

The winery sets its Fincas apart by site, naming 'the opulence of Finca Mirador, the tension of Finca Nazarenas, the elegance of Finca Bella Vista and the minerality of Finca Altamira.' Its stated philosophy is respect for the terroir and minimum intervention from the vine to the wine. Winemaker Gustavo Rearte has characterized the 1998 launch as 'an Old World approach from a New World wine that was perhaps unusual in the late 1990s.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/legacy, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/vineyards/finca-bella-vista, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/vineyards/finca-mirador, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/vineyards/finca-altamira, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/vineyards/finca-nazarenas, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/quimera, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/quimera-blanco, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/mendoza-malbec, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/bella-vista-2022, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/mirador-2022, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/altamira-2021, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/wines/nazarenas-2022; page text read from the site's English locale file, https://www.achaval-ferrer.com/locales/env32/translation.json. Secondary sources: Decanter (Adam Lechmere, 19 April 2011), https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/stolichnaya-group-buys-major-stake-in-achaval-ferrer-40013/; Wine Spectator (Nathan Wesley, 15 April 2011), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/stolichnaya-owner-buys-majority-share-in-achaval-ferrer-44858; The Drinks Business (Arabella Mileham, 23 April 2025), https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/04/achaval-ferrer-launches-fourth-wine-in-its-iconic-finca-range/. Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.