Very dark reddish-purple, all but opaque, with glints of ruby against the light.. Luscious red cherries join more subtle brown spices on the nose, leading into a juicy, tart red-cherry and plum flavor framed by crisp acidity, with a touch of freshly ground black pepper joining in. A noticeable buzz of tannic astringency builds in on the side of your tongue as the wine crosses your palate, and a bit of zippy citrus joins cherries, plums and a tannic buzz in a long finish. Mostly Malbec with a small but undisclosed percentage of Syrah and Bonarda in the blend; 13.5% alcohol. U.S. importer: Alamos USA, Hayward, Calif. (Aug. 11, 2017)

FOOD MATCH: Argentina is famous for its beef grilled on the parilla, and it would be hard to imagine a better match for the country’s trademark Malbec; smoky grilled vegetables would do the trick, too. We enjoyed it with a quick dinner of pinto beans in a cheese sauce with broccoli.

WHEN TO DRINK: It’s just fine now, and the clean Diam technical cork should assure a few years of storage time without cork taint. It’s not really intended for long-term aging, though. I’d drink it up in the next year or two unless you have climate-controlled cellar conditions.

VALUE: My local price is within reach of the $9 average U.S. retail price reported by Wine-Searcher.com, which is a very good value for this Argentine table red.

WEB LINK
Here’s an English-language promo sheet on the producer’s web page.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and check prices for Alamos Mendoza Malbec on Wine-Searcher.com.