Cheval des Andes

Described as a ‘New World Grand Cru’, Cheval des Andes is a high-end wine project that is a collaboration between Terrazas de los Andes and Pierre Lurton of Cheval Blanc.  The joint venture was proposed by Pierre Lurton in 1999 when he realized the potential for top quality wines that existed in certain sites in Mendoza.  Lurton was eager in connecting again with the grape of Saint Emilion’s past: Malbec. A grape that was decimated by phylloxera in the 1860s from its position as one of the most important varieties in Saint Emilion and Pomerol.  It has since been reincarnated at Cheval des Andes in an un-grafted form in Argentina, producing some of the world’s best Malbecs in recent years.  Cheval des Andes wines are a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the high elevation, old vine vineyard "Las Compuertas" near Mendoza. 

To Lurton, Cheval des Andes is an “exotic wine with a Bordelais touch”.  To Nicolas Audebert, its winemaker and a French ex-pat who used to make Krug and Veuve Clicquot, it’s the “best of two worlds: a combination of the intensity of Argentinian fruit but dressed in a very elegant way with that French style”.