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Alta Vista Single Vineyard Serenade Malbec 2015
RedArgentina2015
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-11-13 · Published 2026-09-09 · Updated 2026-09-09
At a glance
In one line
4.5/5 — higher than Vivino's 4.2 average · world avg price US$40 · Argentina's first single-vineyard Malbec, made by the French count's family that sold Piper-Heidsieck and moved to Mendoza.
2015: Wine Spectator review (Oct 31, 2020 issue, "Well-structured and powerful, with lithe minerality", score not public) · 2013: Wine Enthusiast 94 · Wine Spectator 94 · Wine Advocate 93 · Vinous 91 · 2010: WS 92 · WA 93 · 2021: WA 95 · 2022: James Suckling 93
Market note: The original of Alta Vista's three single-vineyard Malbecs (Temis, Alizarine, Serenade). Vivino averages by vintage bottomed out at 2013 (3.8) and have held at 4.1–4.2 since 2015. Production is small, around 4,000 bottles a vintage.
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“Good.”
What I wrote at the bottom of the page today: a quiet person's biggest "good" sometimes arrives as the sound of glasses touching.
Thursday, Christmas Eve. The bar was open, but there were only two tables of customers. Everyone must be home tonight. Before opening, I took the presents out of the box under the counter. Minjae got his socks and started untying his shoelaces to try them on right there. Master Seo unfolded the scarf and studied the end for a long time. Then he said one thing. "The right side has one stitch too many." And he wrapped it around his neck. Mom's brooch I'll give her tomorrow morning.
A quiet night. Master Seo poured me a glass of red. Plum, blackberry, vanilla. Round and soft, and running through the inside of it, one cool thread of mint.
Mint is cold, but what it brought back was a warm sound. My nose never lets go of a scent once I've smelled it; it carries me all the way back to its day. Late autumn when I was twenty-one, a Wednesday evening with cold rain drumming on the window. On that night of endlessly changing bottles, every time Father got a glass, he only smelled it and set it down. Not a single toast. But with this glass, and only this one, Father held his glass out toward me. Clink. The two glasses touched. I laughed without knowing why, and Father laughed too. That was the only clink of glasses all night. I don't know the bottle's name.
I opened the notebook. "Good." Four and a half stars, among the highest that night. This was the second "good" in the assignment Master Seo gave me on the solstice. The bottle was Alta Vista Serenade Malbec. Master Seo said a serenade is a song you sing at night beneath someone's window. I stuck a wine-name Post-it into the notebook and filled in the second line of the assignment: "The good we clinked." Maybe in front of the very best glass, Father wanted to make a sound instead of saying a word.
Near closing, the last two tables went home and it was just the three of us. The three of us clinked glasses once. Master Seo kept the scarf on the whole time. What I wrote at the bottom of the page today: a quiet person's biggest "good" sometimes arrives as the sound of glasses touching.
What this wine is
The Alta Vista story begins in Champagne. The counts d'Aulan owned and ran Piper-Heidsieck — the house Marilyn Monroe was said to drink — until they sold it in 1988. The son, Patrick d'Aulan, went looking for a new challenge, fell for Mendoza's old Malbec vines, and in 1998 founded Alta Vista with Jean-Michel Arcaute, the winemaker who had made his name at Château Clinet in Pomerol. The name means 'a view from high up'. They bought and restored an 1890 winery in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, and set a rule: a French winemaking team, local people in the vineyards.
In 2001 Alta Vista became the first producer in Argentina to bottle a Malbec from a single plot. Serenade was that first label; Temis from the Uco Valley and Alizarine from Las Compuertas joined later to make a single-vineyard trilogy. In a 2016 interview in Seoul, Patrick said: "When we vinified each plot separately, the taste was a little different from terroir to terroir. That is when we understood how much single vineyards mattered. The release of Serenade became the historic moment when Argentine wineries started pursuing quality."
The Serenade vineyard is in Alto Agrelo, south of Luján de Cuyo, at 1,050 m. Four metres of clay loam sit over a layer of boulders, and the ungrafted, massal-selection vines are Guyot-trained low to the ground. Producer sources disagree on the planting date — 1935 in some, 1960 in others. Yields are 4,500 kg per hectare, roughly one bottle per vine. The wine is fermented in concrete vats, then spends 12 months in French oak (two-thirds new) and a further six months in bottle. Alcohol is 14.5%. The producer's note: "Deep ruby. Softly ripe fruit with animal notes from the oak. A fresh attack, firm but smooth tannins, considerable elegance."
What the world says
Wine Spectator reviewed the 2015 in its October 31, 2020 issue. The first line is public — "Well-structured and powerful, with lithe minerality" — and the score is for subscribers only. The neighbouring vintages, though, have a clear record. The 2013 got Wine Enthusiast 94, Spectator 94, Wine Advocate 93 and Vinous 91 — the Advocate wrote of "ripe plums, smoked cured meats, something earthy, plus an umami touch", and Vinous of "lovely density but a lighter touch and a finer grain". The 2021 got Advocate 95, the 2022 James Suckling 93.
The Vivino community of 219 averages 4.2, with 85% at 4 or above; across all 14 vintages (1,742 ratings) it is 4.1. The keywords run oak, vanilla and tobacco; plum, blackberry and blackcurrant; leather and earth; cherry; licorice, mint and eucalyptus — and violet appears three times. Structure: intensity 4.0/5, tannin 2.6, acidity 2.7, sweetness 2.2 — noticeably softer than Juan Gil Blue Label (tannin 3.3). By vintage, 2013 (3.8) was the low point, and since 2015 it has not moved from 4.1–4.2.
"I think I understood why the winery put 'Serenade' on the label. Like a serenade echoing over moonlight, it soothed both tongue and nose. Different in aroma and texture from other Malbecs. More refined and fruit-driven." — Vivino review, Jan 2020, 4.5 stars
"Well balanced and fruity. An excellent Argentine Malbec. One minor weakness is that it is slightly bland." — Vivino review, Nov 2019, 4.1 stars
"Very soft at first. After 10–15 minutes the taste became much richer." — Vivino review, Feb 2020, 5 stars
How I drank it
November 13, 2019, 4.5 stars. The note is one word: "Good."
I logged sixteen bottles that day, and three of them carry nothing but "Good." — Tarapacá Gran Reserva at 3.5, Mrva & Stanko Cabernet at 3.5, and this Serenade at 4.5. Alta Vista appears once more in the log: the Terroir Selection Malbec 2017, 4 stars, on July 13, 2020. There is no re-tasting of the Serenade on record.
My 4.5 is 0.3 above the community's 4.2. No critic score is public for the 2015 (Wine Spectator reviewed it in October 2020 with the score behind the paywall); the neighbouring 2013 got 94 from both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. The drinking window runs to 2028, so if I find a remaining bottle I will taste it again and update the score.
Vivino community data
2015 vintage rating distribution (219 ratings, average 4.2)
| 5★ | 25 (11%) | |
| 4★ | 161 (74%) | |
| 3★ | 32 (15%) | |
| 2★ | 0 (0%) | |
| 1★ | 1 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 53 | oak 18 · vanilla 17 · tobacco 7 · chocolate 4 · cedar 2 |
| Black fruit | 51 | plum 17 · blackberry 13 · black fruit 7 · blackcurrant 5 |
| Earth & leather | 22 | leather 7 · earth 5 · honey 2 · salt 2 |
| Red fruit | 17 | cherry 9 · red fruit 4 · raspberry 3 |
| Spice | 14 | licorice 3 · mint 3 · eucalyptus 2 · pepper 2 |
| Dried fruit | 6 | prune 3 · raisin 3 |
| Floral | 3 | violet 3 |
Structure: Acidity 2.7/5 · Intensity 4.0/5 · Tannin 2.6/5 · Sweetness 2.2/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 1742 ratings, average 4.1)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 4.2 | 44 |
| 2007 | 4.2 | 255 |
| 2009 | 4.0 | 61 |
| 2010 | 4.0 | 135 |
| 2011 | 4.1 | 244 |
| 2012 | 3.9 | 145 |
| 2013 | 3.8 | 155 |
| 2014 | 4.0 | 122 |
| 2015 | 4.2 | 219 |
| 2017 | 4.2 | 72 |
| 2018 | 4.1 | 50 |
| 2019 | 4.2 | 56 |
| 2020 | 4.2 | 54 |
| 2021 | 4.2 | 34 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Alta Vista Serenade?
A full-bodied 100% Malbec from a single plot, the Serenade vineyard in Alto Agrelo, Mendoza, Argentina. Alta Vista, founded in 1998 by the French d'Aulan family who once owned Piper-Heidsieck, released it in 2001 as Argentina's first single-vineyard Malbec. Old vines at 1,050 m, 12 months in French oak, 14.5% alcohol. Vivino 4.2 (2015); the neighbouring 2013 vintage got 94 from both Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast.
How much does it cost?
Overseas retail US$40–70, varying widely by seller and vintage. Stockists are few these days, and the sibling single-vineyard bottlings, Temis and Alizarine, trade in much the same band.
What food goes with it?
Vivino suggests beef and lamb. Korean-style, it suits hanwoo (Korean beef) grill, bulgogi, galbijjim (braised short ribs), dakbokkeumtang (spicy braised chicken), samgyeopsal (pork belly) and gopchang (grilled intestines). With tannin at a soft 2.6/5 it suits richly seasoned Korean meat dishes; serve slightly cool at 16–18°C after decanting.
How do Temis, Alizarine and Serenade differ?
All three are Alta Vista single-vineyard Malbecs from different plots. Serenade (first released 2001) is in Alto Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, at 1,050 m; Temis is high in the Uco Valley; Alizarine is an old vineyard in Las Compuertas, Luján de Cuyo. Serenade is the original of the series, and above all three sits 'Alto', the Malbec–Cabernet icon blend.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Wines Argentina Express — Serenade technical sheet (elevation, planting, oak, alcohol)
- Kobrand — Alta Vista Single Vineyard Serenade producer sheet
- K&L Wines — 2013 Serenade reviews (WE 94, WS 94, WA 93, Vinous 91)
- Wine Spectator — 2015 Serenade review (Oct 31, 2020 issue)
- Segye Ilbo, Choi Hyun-tae's Wine Holic — Patrick d'Aulan interview (June 2016)
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