Purple dye called “Mega Purple” (far more common than you think)
“Fining agents” like potassium ferrocyanide (yes “-cyanide”)
Glyphosate, the weed killer found in RoundUp, which the World Health Organization recently determined may promote cancer)
The French pesticide scandal after a lab found pesticides in 90% of French wines they tested
The scourge of residual sugar, which comes from the practice of harvesting grapes before they’re fully ripe… then covering it up by adding more sugar!
A growing number of wine drinkers are now turning their back on supermarket wines… and towards a rare red wine known for its dark, near black color… its high levels of longevity and anti-oxidant nutrients… and the extreme altitude vineyards (above 8,000 feet) where it is made.
Extreme altitude wine – is it really better?
Unlike Napa or Bordeaux, with their five-star hotels and plush wine tours, Argentina’s Calchaquí Valley is often described as the world’s last wild frontier.
It’s a land where cowboys still sleep under the stars using their saddle bags as pillows
…where women work looms in the early dawn’s first light
…where the nearest city is six-hours away across a jagged mountain landscape
…where a small brotherhood of winemakers continue a tradition 200 years old, to produce some of the finest wine in the world.
You’ve may have had Argentine malbec wine before. But it was likely from Mendoza.
The Calchaquí is about 500 miles north of there, squeezed into a narrow corridor between miles of desert and the jagged peaks of the Andes mountains. At over 1,000 miles from the nearest port, it is the most isolated wine region in the world.
Because that of that, wines from Calchaqui are ultra-rare in the US.
On the rare occasion they are available, entire vintages sell out in 24 hours. A single bottle can go for over $500…if you get it from a middle man (for a much less expensive way to taste these wines, keep reading…)
In contrast to industrial wineries, the vineyards of the Calchaqui get natural snowmelt water (purified on its fall down the mountainsides)…
Nor do local winemakers believe in using dyes, flavoring or filtration…
Plus, at such extreme altitudes, there’s little need to drench the grapes in antifungals and pesticides (common in some famous regions).
First time drinkers often note its inky, near-black color.
A rare type of malbec, so opaque they call it ‘black wine’
That’s a tell-tale sign of extreme levels of resveratrol.
You probably know resveratrol as an anti-oxidant.
But that’s actually NOT why it’s so good for your health.
Exposed to the extreme conditions of the Calchaquí, the grape vines activate what’s known as their “sirtuin pathway.” Sirtuin activation floods the grapes with resveratrol to protect the grape from the elements.
When that resveratrol passes into your body, it activates YOUR sirtuin pathway.
Effectively, the resilience of the plant – hard won after years in the wilderness – is passed onto you!
The grapes of the Calchaquí Valley may have one of the highest resveratrol concentrations of any grape in the world – up to 10 times that of other grapes.
But the true beauty of this wine is the remarkable flavor.
It is said that when you open your first bottle of Calchaquí wine, you catch a whiff of campfires burning out on the high plains as cowboys break camp for the night.
Then come the notes of fresh berry, herbs, and charred earth.
Sadly, on the rare occasion you find these wines in America
But fair notice, they expect spots to fill up very quickly (last time, they filled 500 spots in a day or so) so if you are interested, don’t wait to learn more!
