Argentina · Mendoza

Bodega Septima

Mendoza producer in Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, founded 2001 by Raventós Codorníu. Best known for the Gran Reserva, a Malbec-led blend assembled from close to one hundred microvinification lots across multiple Mendoza zones.

The producer

Bodega Séptima sits in Agrelo, in the Luján de Cuyo district of Mendoza, at 1,050 metres in the Andean foothills. Founded in 2001 as the seventh winery in the portfolio of Raventós Codorníu, a Spanish group with more than 470 years of winemaking history, the name follows directly from that count. The seventh house was placed not in Spain but in Argentina, in a high-altitude sub-zone the group had not previously farmed. Three million bottles leave the winery each year, and the building itself is remarkable: designed by Bórmida and Yanzón, it draws on the pre-Hispanic pirca construction method of the Huarpes people, with blind stone walls that absorb Mendoza's afternoon heat and release it slowly through the cold Andean night.

Gran Reserva blends Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat from close to one hundred separate microvinification lots drawn from multiple Mendoza zones at varying altitudes and ripeness levels. After more than fifty experimental fermentation variations, the winemaking team selects and assembles the final blend, which then spends 18 months in French, American, and Hungarian oak barrels followed by a further 12 months in bottle before release. The 30-month production cycle and the multi-zone sourcing give the wine its defining character: aromatic complexity from altitude-driven acidity, spice from Tannat and oak, and a firm, long finish that stays fresh at 15% ABV.

Known for

Multi-zone Mendoza blending, high-altitude Agrelo fruit, three-wood barrel rotation

Notable facts

The story

The Stone Walls

When Bórmida and Yanzón sat down to design the Séptima winery, they bypassed the architectural conventions of modern Mendoza and reached back to a pre-Columbian building tradition. The Huarpes people had stacked stone without mortar for centuries, constructing ceremonial centres whose walls absorbed heat through the afternoon and released it slowly through the cold Andean night. Bórmida and Yanzón applied that logic to a working winery in Agrelo: blind stone walls rising above the vineyard line, heavy enough to hold the mountain day's heat and give it back gradually once temperatures dropped. The building was not conceived as a gesture toward heritage. It was an engineering decision made in a climate where the gap between a midday high and a post-midnight low can exceed 20 degrees Celsius. The winery has since won multiple architecture awards. The walls look ancient. They are managing the mountain.

From the atlas

Bodega Septima

At A Glance

Producer: Bodega Séptima Country: Argentina Region: Mendoza, Luján de Cuyo Village/District: Agrelo Grapes: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat Elevation: 1,050 m Founded: 2001 Owner: Raventós Codorníu Production: Three million bottles annually

The Producer

Bodega Séptima sits in Agrelo, in the Luján de Cuyo district of Mendoza, at 1,050 metres in the Andean foothills. It was founded in 2001 as the seventh winery in the portfolio of Raventós Codorníu, a Spanish group with more than 470 years of winemaking history, and the name follows directly from that count. The seventh house was placed not in Spain but in Argentina, in a high-altitude sub-zone the group had not previously farmed.

The winery produces three million bottles a year and covers 5,500 square metres of production space. Gran Reserva is a three-grape blend assembled from close to one hundred separate microvinification lots drawn from multiple Mendoza zones. The production approach uses minimal intervention across more than fifty experimental variations before final assemblage. The building itself is a statement: designed by the Bórmida and Yanzón studio, it draws on the pre-Hispanic pirca construction method of the Huarpes people, with blind stone walls that regulate internal temperature against Mendoza's extreme daily swings.

Place

Agrelo is one of the cooler and higher sub-zones within Luján de Cuyo, the Mendoza district that sits on the eastern slope of the Andes roughly 1,000 metres above the valley floor. The elevation matters for the wines in a specific way: the diurnal temperature swing at 1,050 metres is more pronounced than at lower Mendoza sites, with hot afternoons dropping sharply once the sun clears the peaks. That swing slows ripening, preserves acidity, and allows grapes to accumulate aromatic compounds over a longer growing season without losing freshness.

For the Gran Reserva, the sourcing extends beyond Agrelo into other Mendoza zones at varying altitudes, building a layered profile that no single-vineyard parcel could produce on its own. The wine is 15% ABV and reads aromatic and full rather than flat or alcoholic, because the fruit components carry acidity from altitude rather than heat-softened sweetness.

Soil And Site

The Agrelo site sits on alluvial soils laid down by Andean meltwater over centuries: gravel, sand, and clay in varying depth, with good drainage. The elevation of 1,050 metres places the vineyard above much of the Mendoza valley floor, where temperatures and UV intensity both differ from lower-altitude sites. The Andean foothills position means irrigation draws from snowmelt rather than groundwater, giving a seasonal water rhythm that tracks the growing cycle closely.

Story

Raventós Codorníu's decision to build in Argentina was a deliberate expansion from a very long Spanish base. The group's winemaking history in Spain spans more than 470 years, and by 1999, when the Séptima project formally began, the portfolio already covered six Spanish wineries. The seventh was conceived as an Andean project from the start, planned across two years before construction completed in 2001.

The choice of Agrelo was partly geographic and partly philosophical. Luján de Cuyo had established itself as one of Mendoza's serious Malbec districts, and Agrelo's higher, cooler position within that district offered the acid retention the group wanted for a blended wine of real complexity. Rather than buying into an existing Argentine producer, Raventós Codorníu built from the ground up, commissioning an original winery building and establishing a winemaking programme around microvinification from the outset. The Gran Reserva's hundred-component architecture reflects that founding ambition: a wine whose complexity is assembled rather than inherited.

Vineyards And Cellar

The Gran Reserva begins with microvinification. The winemaking team works through more than fifty separate fermentation variations before selecting and blending close to one hundred individual lots from multiple Mendoza zones. The grapes are Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat, sourced at varying ripeness levels from sites at different altitudes across the appellation. This multi-zone sourcing is what gives the blend its aromatic layering: components from higher, cooler sites contribute acidity and perfume; components from warmer zones add body and colour depth.

After fermentation, the wine spends 18 months in French, American, and Hungarian oak barrels. The three-wood rotation is deliberate: French oak contributes fine grain and spice integration; American oak adds a broader, slightly sweet vanilla frame; Hungarian oak sits between the two, adding texture without overwhelming the fruit. After barrel ageing, the wine rests a further 12 months in bottle before release, a 30-month production cycle from harvest to market. The minimal intervention approach throughout means the winemaking does not add layers of its own; the complexity comes from the blending architecture.

Wines

The range runs across three tiers, each defined by grape sourcing and cellar commitment.

Obra is the entry-level label, designed for early drinking. It carries Malbec as the primary grape and is priced for accessibility. The cellar treatment is lighter than the Gran Reserva; Obra is the way into the producer for a new buyer without committing to the long-aged flagship tier.

Gran Reserva is the mid-tier and the producer's most fully realised bottle. Three grapes, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat, are drawn from close to one hundred microvinification lots across Mendoza. The wine is deep red with violet highlights, aromatically complex with nutmeg, pepper, menthol, and plum, and structured with firm acidity and well-integrated tannins. Thirty months of production time, 18 in barrel and 12 in bottle, gives the wine enough time to settle into itself before release. At 15% ABV it is full, but the acidity prevents heaviness.

Finca Emblema sits at the top of the range as the prestige tier. It is the producer's flagship statement, though detailed cellar specifications and parcel sourcing are not in the verified record.

The three tiers follow a clear logic: simpler sourcing and earlier release at entry level, maximum blending complexity and longest ageing at the top, with Gran Reserva sitting as the producer's clearest expression of its winemaking philosophy.

In The Glass

The Gran Reserva opens with spice before fruit: nutmeg and black pepper come first, followed by menthol lift and then red stone fruit, principally plum, underneath. The colour is deep red with violet at the rim, a product of Tannat and Malbec working together with high-altitude pigmentation.

In the mouth, the wine has amplitude: it fills the palate rather than sitting lean or extracted. The tannins are present and firm but integrated, without the grip that comes from overextraction. Acidity runs through the mid-palate and carries into a long finish that stays fresh rather than rounding off. At 15% ABV the alcohol is real, but the acid line from the multi-altitude sourcing keeps the wine from feeling heavy. The three-wood oak programme adds a background of vanilla and toast without dominating the fruit. The bottle rest adds cohesion: the 2020 vintage drinks with more composure than a wine of its weight usually shows at this price level.

A Bottle To Understand It

Gran Reserva is the bottle. It is a Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat blend drawn from close to one hundred microvinification lots across Mendoza, aged 30 months before release. The wine gives a complete picture of what Séptima is doing: multi-zone sourcing at altitude, a three-wood oak programme, and a blending philosophy that trades the clarity of single-parcel wine for deliberate layered complexity. In the glass it is full, spiced, and fresh, with nutmeg, plum, and menthol on the nose and a firm acidity holding the long finish together. It is widely available in export markets. Start here.

Anecdote

When Bórmida and Yanzón sat down to design the Séptima winery, they bypassed the architectural conventions of modern Mendoza and reached back to a pre-Columbian building tradition. The Huarpes people had stacked stone without mortar for centuries, constructing ceremonial centres whose walls absorbed heat through the afternoon and released it slowly through the cold Andean night. Bórmida and Yanzón applied that logic to a working winery in Agrelo: blind stone walls rising above the vineyard line, heavy enough to hold the mountain day's heat and give it back gradually once temperatures dropped. The building was not conceived as a gesture toward heritage. It was an engineering decision made in a climate where the gap between a midday high and a post-midnight low can exceed 20 degrees Celsius. The winery has since won multiple architecture awards. The walls look ancient. They are managing the mountain.

Final Word

Séptima is a Mendoza producer whose complexity is assembled rather than grown in a single place. The Gran Reserva's hundred-component architecture, 30-month production cycle, and three-wood oak programme make it one of the more carefully constructed blends at its price level in the Argentine market. The winery itself, built in the Huarpes pirca tradition at 1,050 metres in the Andean foothills, is a physical expression of the same thinking: a modern operation that reaches back to find something useful.

Sources

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