2021 Kaiken Malbec Mai Mendoza 750 ml

Aurelio Montes founded Kaiken winery at the turn of the 21st century. And if you want to see the scope and scale of his ambition, we’d direct your attention to an unlikely place: their onsite restaurant.

It’s not just some way to have a bite between tastings, but a destination on its own. Legendary chef Francis Mallmann directs the kitchen—the same Francis Mallmann who's been the subject of countless documentaries and who’s considered the world’s foremost expert in live-fire fine dining. The message? Kaiken aims to be first-class in every single thing they do. 

That ethos reaches its apogee with Kaiken’s Mai Malbec, a wine that’s been deliberately engineered to stand among the world’s elite. Mai comes from a single centenarian vineyard in Vistalba, planted in 1910 and sitting more than 1,000 meters above sea level at the foothills of the Andes. These ancient vines, rooted in deep, alluvial soils with gravel at depth, naturally produce low yields and grapes of remarkable concentration. There are very few vineyards like this left in Mendoza. Even fewer are farmed with this level of care.

The 2021 vintage gave those vines exactly what they needed. Spring temperatures ran slightly warmer than average, but crucially, January and February cooled off, extending the ripening cycle. That longer hang time allowed Malbec to reach full maturity without excess, while rainfall later in the season replenished water reserves just in time. Thanks to constant monitoring and precise harvest decisions, the fruit arrived at the winery in pristine condition—making 2021 an especially strong year for Malbec in Mendoza.

In the cellar, nothing is rushed, nothing is left to chance. Each bunch is sorted twice—once at harvest and again at the winery—before being gently guided into fermentation tanks without crushing, allowing berries to open naturally under their own weight. Fermentation proceeds at low temperatures to favor aromatic and color extraction with minimal mechanical force. Total élevage stretches well beyond two years before bottling, followed by extended bottle aging prior to release.