![]() ![]() Like many of their single-parcel wines (such as the exciting Lican from Los Chacayes or the Espinillo from Gualtallary), it transmits engaging wild herbs, thyme, rosemary, fresh sour cherries and flowers to the nose with a linear and precise palate – the result of early picking. The Terrazas de los Andes Malbec Mendoza High Altitude Vineyards Reserva 2021, for example, is one of the great values we found this year from Mendoza at the $20 price point. Many other winemakers working in Argentina, including Jeff Mausbach and Paul Hobbs, gushed about 2021, calling it one of the best vintages in decades, which might sound like a stretch until you taste the wines – especially the entry and mid-level offerings from the most trustworthy producers in Mendoza, who all tend to speak the same language in highlighting innate fruit purity, precision and, sometimes, nervy mountain freshness. ![]() It is all about fresh fruit, tension and drinkability. His oak-free Bodegas CARO Malbec Mendoza Aruma 2021 shows the pristine fruit of high purity with floral perfumes and calculated tannins. Philippe Rolet, the managing director of Bodegas Caro in Mendoza, said 2021 was cool and humid, resulting in “one of the best vintages we have ever had” and comparing it to 2015, 20. Malbec likes sunshine and dry climate, but it can also benefit from a cooler year as it gains aromatics, tension and purity from a longer growing season without overt density and fullness, delivering wines with more immediate appeal and linearity. But because most wineries have not yet released their full range of 2022 offerings, we zero in here on great value malbecs from 2021 – a year many winemakers have referred to as a “dream vintage,” where they could harvest at their own pace after the warm, short and Covid-wracked 2020. Ready to explore all that Malbec has to offer? Particularly good with steak and most things off the grill, we love this variety.We have been preaching the gospel of fresh and expressive Argentine reds from 20 in our recent reportage on the country, with plenty of unique and formidable malbecs among them. We think Malbec could be the next big variety in Washington behind its excellent Merlot. Of recent note are some excellent examples from Washington State. While Argentina still dominates, plantings are growing all over the world with lots of good inexpensive wines being made in California and Chile and even more unexpected places like New Zealand.Ĭlick here to get a printable shopping list of the best Malbec! We cover them all in our list of the best Malbec. Ranging in style from relatively simple, cheap wines meant to be drunk young to those with significant staying power (and time in oak), there's plenty to explore in this extremely popular variety. It maintained a relatively nondescript existence there until the 1990's when it exploded in popularity with Argentina now accounting for 75% of the entire world's acreage of this variety. Before that happened however, Malbec was introduced into Argentina by a French agriculturist in 1868. ![]() Originally one of the primary Bordeaux varietals (and still a mainstay in the Cahors region of France), the grape lost favor in France in the 1950's and 60's due to its sensitive nature to things like frost and mildew. The Malbec grape offers a fascinating look into the rise and fall and rise again of a grape variety!
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