Wine Club - Malbec

Our October meeting of Wine Club was this past Thursday and we were comparing two Malbecs from Argentina. I’d picked both of them up during our wine shopping trip to the Premier Group in NY state in September.

"The Battle of the Malbecs!"

I was looking forward to this meeting as I haven’t had a lot of exposure to wines from Argentina or Malbec. I picked up some hard cheeses (Aged Cheddar, Asiago and a Swiss) as well as a couple of salamis (Genoa Mild and Hot) and a selection of crackers.

Here is the information on both wines -

Premier Group Information – Altos Las Hormigas Malbec 2006

Stock Number – 46781
Volume - 750mL
Price: $ 9.99 US - Club Discount - $1.22 = $8.77
Duty + Exchange - $5.88
Final Price - $14.65
Made in: Argentina

Wine Spectator Description – Ripe and juicy, with lots of plum, sweet toast, cocoa and boysenberry jam notes that are fleshy and delicious through the finish. A crowd-pleaser. Drink now. 20,000 cases made. –JM

Score - 87

Premier Group Information – Bodega Renacer Malbec Mendoza Punto Final 2006

Stock Number –
Volume - 750mL
Price: $ 9.99 US - Club Discount - $1.50 = $8.49
Duty + Exchange - $5.69
Final Price - $14.18
Made in: Argentina

Wine Spectator Description – Juicy and fresh, with raspberry and blackberry fruit, followed by a round, easy finish. Drink now. 5,000 cases made. –JM

Score – 86

Both wines had great aromas coming off them that were similar but slightly different. The Altos Las Hormigas had a stronger nose and the fruit aroma was stronger on it and it also had an earthy smell to it that the Punto Final didn’t. Taste wise things were similar to the aromas of the wines - the Altos Las Hormigas was more vibrant and seemed ‘fresher’ than the Punto Final. The wines were ok with the cheeses but really good with the salamis. What was interesting with the salamis pairing is the wines were equally as good with the mild as they were with the hot.

Both Malbecs remind me of a Cabernet Sauvignon with their high tannin and their preliminary taste but didn’t have the full mid-palette that Cabs usually do. The colour of the wine was closer to a Merlot as both were a nice inky purple in colour.

Nice advantage to not Blogging right after a Wine Club meeting is I sometimes get feedback as one of the wine club members had a bottle of the Altos Las Hormigas over the weekend with pork tenderloin and raved about how good this wine with it. This was cool as most of the pairing information I had found on Malbec leaned towards beef rather than pork, so it was interesting to hear that a pork pairing was so good.

I will say that I wasn’t ‘blown’ away by either of the Malbecs, though I did enjoy both of them and it was fun to try something new. The wines were good enough that I will be looking for more Malbec in the future.

Cheers!

Mark