Santa Julia, Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, 2008, $9
A decade ago, Australian shiraz was all the rage. Ripe, round and full of fruit flavor, it offered tasty value.
You’ll still find plenty of Australian shiraz in wine shops, but today’s hot red import is Argentine malbec. It displays many of the same enticing charms but often represents even better value. Land and labor come cheap in Argentina, so high-quality wine can be produced relatively inexpensively. That’s why, with budgets tight for just about everyone, it has become so popular.
Malbec used to be a workhorse grape. Over the past 20 years, conscientious vintners have transformed it into a solo star. The high altitudes of the top Argentine vineyards give the grapes full sunlight and cool nights, resulting in wines with full concentration, soft tannins and full flavors. Good examples regularly outperform wines made elsewhere that cost twice as much.
Santa Julia malbec, made by the irrepressible Jose Zuccardi of the Familia Zuccardi winery, is an excellent introduction to this Argentine specialty. Its bouquet of plums and dark berries introduces flavors that resemble ripe red fruits with echoes of chocolate and black licorice.
Not as complex as some more expensive, oak-aged malbecs, it nonetheless offers balanced, harmonious pleasure at a very fair price. It’s hard to imagine a better red wine choice for spring or summer entertaining.
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