Malbec...It's The New Red!

Malbec has always been a favorite of mine to pair with a grilled steak, pork chop or tenderloin.  In general, it's priced very affordable and a great alternative red wine.  Originally from France and approved as one of 5 grape varietals allowed in Bordeaux, Argentina is now one of the largest producers of Malbec.  In California, it's still used widely as a blending grape with Meritage being one of the most popular blends.  I've posted a few Malbec wines on this blog yet never thought about how great the wine is especially for it's price point.  Here is a new one I just tried.

Elsa Bianchi Malbec  '11   $9 (World Market)
Mendoza, Argentina

With delicate aromas of dark cherries, ripe plums and blackberries, this wine revealed a dark fruit characteristic.  Deep purple in color, the flavors of black cherry and hints of spice made for a nice medium body taste.

It may come across as a young wine on the first taste but after letting it open up in the glass for 15 minutes, the tastes began to soften much like a more mature wine.  Hints of vanilla and subtle earthiness found on the finish really made this a great everyday red.  It's value is amazing and apparently Robert Parker gave it 90 points!

Cruz Alta, Malbec '10 $13

Mendoza, Argentina

Crushed dark cherries, plum, subtle oak and what some might call a barnyard aroma all blended together to give this wine an interesting start. I wouldn't get too concerned on the barnyard thing as being anything disgusting. This is mostly to describe a wine that is young and the acid & tannins are up front while the fruit flavors are hiding behind. This could be also called a "backward" wine. Sometimes a backward wine will open up with aeration in your glass or a decanter. I can attest this wine definitely improved over time.

The flavors held together dark berries and hints of cocoa to offer up a nice balance on this easy drinking red. The body is somewhat light which could make this a good every day drinking wine. The finish was clean and I could see this going well with roasted chicken or grilled fish. I had it with a few aged cheeses before dinner which went quite nice. Gouda, Cheddar and Pecorino Romano were included in the selection.