THREE RELIABLE MALBECS THAT WON’T BREAK THE BANK
The province fell in love with Argentine Malbec about a decade ago, and although the romance may be waning, the sales of that wine from Argentina continue to soldier on. For many people it became their standard house plonk, and I think that’s a pretty good choice, kind of boring, but then not everybody suffers from severe vinous ADD.
The grape is intensely coloured (sometimes leaving you with stained lips), tannic enough for most people’s tastes in cheese and meat, with a sufficiency of acidity to match well with food without being aggressive.
This works well for the cocktail approach to drinking red wines that is not just popular but probably the way the majority of drinkers consume wine.
Everyone probably has their favourite label from Argentina, and I find often the drinkers are stubbornly loyal to their brand. If, by chance, you are willing to think past your single favourite wine and want to try a couple of different labels, here are three
that won’t break the bank, and are pretty typical of the wine at this price level.
Finca Los Primos is a straightup, 100 per cent Malbec that most drinkers should find appealing. Even the Wine Spectator gives it an 86. The bouquet is fruity, full of aromas of blackberries and raspberries and a bit of black cherry. The palate is smooth, fruity with some quite subtle (mirablis scriptu!) oaking giving just a dash of vanilla and spice and toast. The finish is moderately long. In short, this is everything a $13 wine should be when done properly. Indeed, I’d argue it’s done a bit better than average. Fuzion is a label I keep an eye on, mostly because I find their offbeat blends interesting for very little money. Their Reserve Malbec is from a higher vineyard in the Mendoza, and the result is a somewhat brighter wine than Los Primos. This appeals to me more, but other people don’t find a hit of acid as appealing as I do.
The bouquet is surprisingly complex with some tertiary aromas from the oak, and a slightly fruity aroma of raspberry and maybe some black currants. The palate is a bit less thick, less mouth coating than Los Primos, which depending on your palate will be more or less appealing. The palate is full of blackberry and raspberry flavours with a light, slightly herbaceous finish. If ever there were a wine for gazpacho this is it. I like this wine several degrees below room temperature, closer to 15 than 25.
Trivento is the winery that pioneered Malbec into this province, and their Golden Reserve is the “special occasion” wine of any of a number of my friends. Their wines are always solid and reliable. 2016 was a slightly better year for them than average — some critics bumped the score to 88.
The bouquet is fruity, primarily plum and raspberry, but there are also aromas from the oaking available. (I think this wine spent the most time in oak of all of these three if that matters to you.)
The palate is about halfway between the Fuzion and the Los Primos, but the brightness of the wine, that cheerful acidity that makes for a good food wine, is apparent especially when you drop the temperature a few degrees. This finish is surprisingly long for a $14 wine.
All of these wines are widely stocked, including at the SLGA.