Wine of the Moment, 2007 Antigal Uno Malbec

I have to admit that the first thing that you notice about the Antigal Uno Malbec is the packaging. These guys have put some serious effort into catching your eye with the metal "1" on the front of the bottle, sleek shape and coppery graphics. But the great thing about it is that the juice that's inside matches the quality of the packaging and you and your friends will be very impressed by both!

The Antigal Winery is located in Mendoza, more specifically in the famed Uco Valley of Tupungato. The Malbec grapes for the UNO come from their vineyards that sit at an elevation of 2000 feet above sea level where they have everything they need to produce perfect grapes. The calcarious soils in the foothills of the Andes combined with very hot days with very cool nights, gives the grapes the ability to ripen slowly with a high concentration of flavors and aromas.

Made with high quality, hand picked, estate grown fruit, the Antigal Uno is aged 8 months in a combination of French and American oak. Luscious black and red berry fruit is brightened by natural acidity and supported by firm but ripe tannins. The silky palate has tobacco, cocoa and vanilla-spice notes with a decent finish. I haven't found anything in this price point that can beat it, but I'm open to suggestions!

$16.99

Wine of the Moment, 2008 Benmarco Malbec

Our friend Liz has been patiently (not!) waiting for me to taste the new vintage of one of her favorite wines. A very frequent buyer and fervent fan of the 2007 BenMarco Malbec, she wasn't sure if the 2008 would be worthy of her adoration. Knowing the history, producer and quality of past vintages, I was confident it would, but nonetheless Liz wanted me to taste it before she purchased her case. So earlier on New Year's Eve day, before the bubbly feeding frenzy began, Lucie Fitch came in with a sample of the BenMarco for us to taste and share with customers. The nose alone told me this was going to be something special, and Liz will be delighted to know that the 2008 is a knockout!

The BenMarco wines are crafted by one of the most talented winemakers in Argentina, Susana Balbo, and her world famous viticulturist husband, Pedro Marchevsky. The winery is a family affair as Pedro’s daughter-in-law is an artist and designs all the labels while Susana’s son is currently a student at the University of California at Davis. One of the wines is called “Crios,” which means offspring and the label depicts two small hands in a big one symbolizing Susana and her two (now grown) children.

Beautiful, deep purple color with perfumed aromas of ripe red fruits and roasted coffee beans. It is lush, full-bodied and fills the palate with loads of chewy, currant jam flavors, bright acidity, and a touch of grip on the almost savory finish. This wine really unfolds with some air so try not to slurp it down in a rush, and it shows why the Argentine people are in love with Malbec. Pedro blended in some Bonarda for greater complexity and to achieve better balance. Pairs well with a wide range of foods including beef, sausages, spiced or grilled pork, veal, medium-strong cheeses, and meat-based pasta sauces.

We liked it so much that I talked Lucie into doing our Friday tasting this week so that all of you could taste it too, along with some of Susana Balbo's other wines from Argentina. Maybe I can convince Chef Dan Esses that he should pair it with a chimichurri sauce on his tapas menu that night....

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Malbec, which contains 10% Bonarda, spent 11 months in 50% new French oak and 50% first use American oak. Purple-colored, it reveals an expressive nose of wood smoke, cinnamon, incense, and black cherry. Round, ripe, medium-bodied, and savory, this layered effort has a lengthy, fruit-filled finish. Enjoy it over the next 5 years.
Score: 90.

Price: $21

Wine of the Moment, 2007 Cholila Ranch Malbec

I've been really getting into the wines from Patagonia lately. They offer something different from the usual, delicious values that come out of Mendoza, Argentina's wine capitol. Some 400 mile south of Mendoza in a scrubby, arid, windy, crazy place, Patagonia is home to some of the southernmost vineyards of the world! But don't pack your bags and expect some tourist haven, this is a desolate region, great for grapes, but not a whole lot of anything else.

The region boasts plenty of sunshine and dry climate along with a wide range between day and nighttime temperatures. But the strong winds that blow through the area are a huge challenge in terms of tangling vines and they also destroy many of the buds during flowering. The winds can also cause wine grapes to grow a thicker skin resulting in harsher tannins if the winemaker isn't careful. Poplar trees planted on the perimeter of the vineyards are used as a windbreak and help prevent vine shoots from twisting. The upside to the winds is that they keep the vines dry and keep away pests and disease so the use of chemicals is almost non-existent.

How does the taste differ from Mendoza Malbecs? I get a little more plum notes than the usual black fruits and a hint of graphite as well, but the same soft tannins and light acidity; very pleasant and something a little different for Malbec fanatics.

Matt Lirette of Lirette Selections brought me the Cholila Ranch Malbec, made by a 100% Argentine winemaking team, led by legendary Argentine winemaker, Roberto de la Mota. A fun tidbit on importer Fran Kysela's website,
In February 20, 1901, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, boarded the British ship Herminius and steamed off to build a new life for themselves in the "United States of the Southern Hemisphere". They settled in a sheep ranch at Cholila Ranch, in the deepest Argentine Patagonia, under the alias of James Ryan and Harry A. place, where they were considered respectable citizens. - Extract of "Digging Up Butch & Sundance", by Anne Meadows

From Importer Fran Kysela: 2007 Cholila Ranch Malbec is made from 100% Malbec. The estate-grown grapes are manually harvested, carefully sorted, and destemmed. The wine undergoes traditional maceration for 21 days with selected yeasts. Cholila Ranch Malbec is aged both in American and French oak for 9 months, followed by a minimum of 6 months bottle aging prior to release. Deep purple color. Aromas of ripe plum and mulberry with violet hints. Ripe black fruits and fig on the palate with touches of smoke and vanilla. A truly powerful yet balanced wine with a persistent finish.
$12.99

Wine of the Moment: Finca Goulart Reserve Malbec Cabernet

The story goes like this...In 1915, Brazilian born Marshall Goulart was living in Argentina and bought two separate 15 hectare vineyard parcels in the Lujan de Cuyo region of Mendoza and planted them with cabernet and malbec. He was a little preoccupied with the political situation of his homeland and in 1932 he became a leader of Brazil’s Constitutional Revolution. Somewhere during this time the records and titles to the land were lost and not rediscovered until 1988 when his granddaughter Erika found them among some of her grandfathers papers. She traveled to Argentina to reclaim the property and decided she wanted to move there and work the land. She named the winery Finca Goulart in honor of her grandfather and has been making wine there ever since.

I ran across information on the Finca Goulart wines a few months ago and asked to taste them, but they jumped distributors and I didn't know where they had landed. Until last week that is when Linda Smith from Republic walked into the shop with "2 awesome Argentine wines that I think you will like!" And there they were, the Goulart Reserve wines, a malbec and a malbec cab blend. Upon tasting I instantly ordered both, but it was the blend that really stood out and ended up being the less expensive of the two.

Its a 60/40 blend of malbec and cab with the fruit coming from the original vineyards that Marshall purchased in 1915. The nose had beautiful black fruit balanced out by aromas of cocoa and coffee. Very elegant and smooth on the palate with lush blackberries, spice, anise and again a nice coffeed richness, this was QUITE impressive!! Even Kerry, who is not a malbec fan, was won over by this wine.

If you love Argentine wines you need to check this out. Its quality is amazing for the price of $17.50! Check out Tanzer's review:

2007 Goulart Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Mendoza
Deep medium ruby. Aromas of blackberry, licorice, violet pastille and espresso. Sweet, spicy and intensely flavored, with a creamy quality to the fruit but also excellent energy. Finishes with broad, serious tannins and excellent length. This offers terrific value.

Wine of the Moment: Alta Vista Premium Malbec

Argentina's Luján de Cuyo is a part of the Mendoza River high region (along with Maipú). The majority of the vineyards in Luján de Cuyo are planted with red varietals with Malbec making up the majority of the plantings . Considered by many winemakers as a viticultural 'promised land,' Luján de Cuyo was the first region to institute the DOC (Denominacion de Origin Controlada) for Argentine Malbec. Approximately 40 minutes southwest of the city of Mendoza, many Argentine wine experts regard Luján de Cuyo as the birthplace of the movement that put Argentina on the map as a serious player on the international stage.

Located in a region known as the Northern Oasis, an odd name considering the region is technically a desert, this appellation sits in the foothills of the Andes where it receives very little rainfall and extremely large differences between day and night temperatures, two key characteristics that make for excellent growing conditions. Most vineyards lie in a relatively wide band between 1500 and 4000 feet in altitude.

The d'Aulan family oversees the Alta Vista winery, one of Argentina's largest independently owned wine producers. They pride themselves on being "Terroir Oriented Winemakers" and have invested considerable time and finances in researching and understanding their homeland. Extensive study was put into the area immediately surrounding Mendoza City, as well as that of Salta, a region in the north that lies in the Andes foothills. Their efforts in Mendoza led to the first comparative study of single vineyard Malbec wines from that region, which then led to the development of their flagship ALTO red wines. Robert Parker has named Alta Vista as one of the top 5 wineries in Argentina.

Alta Vista’s Premium line is made from a careful selection of their old vines mainly from the Serenade Vineyard, in the Lujan de Cuyo region. Their Premium Malbec is quite elegant, the bouquet is concentrated and dense, filled with black raspberry, licorice and spice. The fruit is powerful yet smooth on the palate and it keeps unfolding for ages revealing layers of savory black berries and cocoa touched by a note of earthy minerality.

$20.99/bottle
$18.89/bottle with case discount
$17.75/bottle with club swirl case discount