2005 Terrazas De Los Andes Reserva Malbec

Delicious, originally uploaded by *April*.

We are not wine snobs, but we're not exactly novices either. For years one of my favorite getaways has been to vineyards across the country - and in France. I try to pick up a few bottles of local wine from each place we vacation. Almost any trip to the grocery store, Costco or specialty market finds a bottle or two nestled in amongst the organic produce in our basket. It's almost a compulsion. We're hoping to eventually convert part of our basement into a wine cellar, but for now the dark cool temperatures work well for our burgeoning collection. Hint to my dear husband, as far as our vacation this summer goes - I'd love if we could work some vineyard visits in...

Last night's choice was a 2005 Terrazas De Los Andes Malbec. It's from the Mendoza region of Argentina and was laced with deep blackberry flavor. It smelled almost floral, with a slight hint of cinnamon, chocolate and pipe tobacco. This bottle was in the $10-$15 range from Costco, I believe.

Malbecs are named in homage to the Hungarian peasant who first introduced that particular grape varietal to France. They were once solely grown in France, but they were introduced by the French architectural engineer Michel Pouget in 1868 to the mild climate on the slopes of the Argentinean Andes. The Mendoza area turned out to be so well-suited to growing the grapes (and producing a less tannic-driven variety than that in Cahors) that France has essentially thrown in the towel on this varietal. An interesting tidbit of information - while the grape is Argentina's shining glory - the wine makers almost completely decimated the vineyards during the 1980s when a "vine pull" program reduced the total planted acreage to less than 10,000. The grape is also grown in Chile, France (very limited), the cooler portion of California (where it is used to make Meritage), Washington, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, British Columbia, southern Bolivia and Northeastern Italy.

Malbec (and Tannat) are the varieties of grapes with the highest polyphenols called oligomeric procyandins (OPS), that make red wine good for your health.

This particular bottle was rated 88 points by Wine Spectator, and for the price was an excellent buy. As we eat only vegetarian meals at home, I can't attest to the pairing with meat - but imagine that it would do nicely with grilled items as it complemented the slight char on our summer squash.

One caveat - the wine did leave the tell-tale red wine drinker stigma of dark splotches on the teeth and along the gumline so be sure to rinse well after water and brush up before bed!