Going South with Malbec

I confess. I ignored Malbec for far too long. Having had only 1 Malbec in our box over the past year, I have decided to put things right this month with a selection of Malbec’s and other great South American wines from our new supplier, Open Wine.

Malbec makes a great all round red that pleases just about everybody. Full and “Plummy”, it is normally easy to drink given its’ fruit flavor. It is also a thin skinned grape, making it popular in places with lots of sun. And that fact takes us to the origin of this month’s Malbec – the southern Andes of Patagonia (about as far south as you can get!

Arguably, Argentina produces the best Malbec because of one special feature – high altitude. Some cleaver guy ages ago discovered that these grapes do particularly well when grown between 1000 and 1,500m, and planted a whole lot of them. The result? A whole bunch of Malbec with 95+ points from Robert Parker to Wine Spectator – indeed people far more qualified than myself. My IWCoK super intelligent wine ranking system just said that the Malbec Rose is “Super Cool”.  This is a “94” for you real experts J

This month we also bring you our first Uruguayan wine in the form of a Tannat – the Uruguay nation grape! These are less tannic and considerably lighter than the Cabs and Merlots from the neighboring countries, giving you something that will feel a bit drier and more elegant. And of course we have a host of whites from the traditional Chardonnay (not too oaky !), Saugvignon and the lesser known Argentinian Torrontes.

And Open Wine ? Run by native Chilean Jorge Atisha in Olomouc, “Jiri” has seen a growing demand for his range of Chilean, Argentinian and Uruguayan wines that can not be missed in the best restaurants in town.

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