This advertising content was produced in collaboration with our partner, Bodega Ruca Malen.
Mendoza-based Bodega Ruca Malen, meaning “house of the young woman,” was inspired by an indigenous legend from southwest Argentina’s Mapuche people that speaks of one young woman’s brave actions.
According to the legend, the Mapuche women were taught to walk with their heads down, out of fear of the local god’s glance. The tide changed when one day, a courageous woman raised her eyes and met the eyes of the god, who was so moved by her gesture that he offered her a home, Ruca Malen, and vowed that if she drank the nectar from the ground below, she would live in peace and abundance.
In 2020, Ruca Malen brought in Agustina Hanna, a talented new female winemaker, and refocused its entire portfolio back to this narrative. A winemaker since age 19, Hanna has taken part in 12 vintages across Argentina, Spain, and France, and honed her winemaking skills at some of the most prestigious estates in Argentina. Hanna’s distinctive work at Ruca Malen focuses on innovative, small-production winemaking, which unlike larger Argentinian producers, allows her to specialize in handcrafted wines that reflect their micro-terroirs.
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Hanna treats each variety with its own signature process, including different aging techniques, vessels, and maceration periods to enhance the grape’s unique characteristics. The new portfolio, which is now available in the U.S. market, showcases different expressions of Malbec as well as nontraditional Argentinian varieties, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Petit Verdot.
To reflect its forward-thinking emphasis, the brand’s new packaging has a bold and alluring look that features the face of the Mapuche woman prominently in the design. The wines, which span three quality levels ranging from high-quality, value-driven wines to super-premium wines, consistently receive 90 point scores or higher from leading publications.
The Ruca Malen property sits within Mendoza’s prestigious Lujan de Cuyo region and today has more than 50 acres of estate vineyards. The entire winery is certified sustainable, and since 2020, has been producing an organic variation of Malbec. To boot, its tourism center has a Michelin Green Guide-recognized restaurant, with multiple options for food and wine pairing experiences.
With a bold new winemaker at its helm, Ruca Malen is demonstrating the potential of Argentina’s small-production, terroir-driven wines from traditional and nontraditional grape varieties alike.
