Terra 2009 Lujan de Cuyo Sparkling Malbec

The winemaker's site advertises this as produced by the "Chaussepied Method", which seems to be more commonly known as the Charmat process. This wine is sealed with an unfamiliar black synthetic "cork", brand marking is unclear, OPI or TOPI or YOPI.

Short-lived streams of small vigorous bubbles rise in a wine a bit too deeply-colored to call rose; a true red, if a light one. They quickly settle down to tiny bubbles lazily rising.

Mild blackberry smell. I think carbonation can tend to anesthetize the nose, yet many proper Champagnes have wonderful aromas.

Blackberry flavor, black cherry, sweet-seeming fruit that develops some tannic bitterness at the end.

Good medium-bodied bottle for $16.99. As with Australian Sparkling Shiraz, some of the appeal is novelty, but its not without inherent, if simple, virtues.

Familia Mayol 2007 Vista Flores Bonarda Pircas Vineyard

Bonarda is grown in California as Charbono.

Opaque purple, red at the rim.

Smell of plum, prune, raisins, cherry.

Dry taste of prune, raisin, and fig. Tannins in the finish.

Very good full-bodied bottle for a bargain $14.99.

Finca Sophenia 2008 Tupungato Malbec reserve

Dark dark dark opaque purple, tends to be violet at the edges.

Black plum smell, blueberry. retrained oak in the background.

Dry fruit flavors, prune, blueberry, red cherry, cocoa, oak that never overwhelms, good acid, soft tannins at the end. Rewards a bit of air.

Very good dry full-bodied bottle for $15.99, uncomplicated, matches well with simple full-flavored food.

Familia Mayol 2008 Lujan de Cuyo Mendoza Malbec Montuiri Vineyard

Near opaque, dark ruby glints in the depths.

Spicy smell, nutmeg and cinnamon, cigar-box cedar, plum and prune.

Dark fruits, plum and prune and currants. Full-bodied and fat.

Very good bottle for $17.99. Big food-friendly wine.

Bodega Norton 2007 Mendoza Torrontes

The color of laundry bleach.

Full smell of young melon, tangerine rind, rain-wetted stones.

Tart dry fruity flavor, crisp green apple, lemon, melon, sprightly.

Excellent bottle for $10.50, Torrontes hasn't yet earned the respect it's due, it still can be an amazing value!

Alta Vista 2006 Mendoza Malbec Premium

Opaque, dark reddish-purple at the edges.

Plum, prune, black cherry smells, roast beef, oak in the background.

Warm plum flavor, blackcurrant, blueberry, peach, mildly oaked, quite tannic at the end.

Good bottle for $14.99, big balanced full-flavored fun.

Goulart 2008 Mendoza Torrontes

Very pale yellow-tinged color.

Pungent citrus and green apple smells.

Fruity dry flavor, grapefruit and granny smith apple and a bit chalky at the end. Bitter citrus peel under the fruit,frisky petilance on the tongue, but no apparent bubbles on the glass.

An excellent bottle for $15.99, I foresee this as the next trendy white grape, perhaps supplanting Viognier.

Dona Paula 2007 Lujan de Cuyo Mendoza Malbec

I aerated this and let it rest for a day after opening. My decanting procedure has changed a bit recently. A young red wine is poured into a clean 10-cup Melita manual coffee-maker, through the "cone" filter holder without any filter (an older wine which has considerable sediment or in which a perished cork has crumbled on opening gets a filter.) From there it's poured into another clean 10-cup Melita manual coffee-maker. It goes back and forth between the two until I'm tired when it's poured through a funnel back into the original bottle.

Appears opaque, purple/red at the rim.

Black cherry smell, oak, a bit of spearmint.

Tart plum flavor, peach, oak, a curious spearmint chewing gum note.

An interesting wine for $12.99. At some moments not entirely satisfying, at other moments I think I'm being overcritical, considering the price.

Clos de los Siete 2006 Mendoza

I aerated this and let it rest for a day after opening.

Near-opaque, purple and red at the rim.

Oak and stone fruit smell.

Substantial flavor, roast beef, plum, black cherry. Suffers from a shortage of acid.

A distinctly Argentine blend: 45% Malbec, 35% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Syrah.

This was a good, not a great, wine. For $17.99, it was acceptable. A less full-bodied wine would have merited briefer aeration.

Per Hugh Johnson, Clos de los Siete is a group of seven vineyard parcels. I'm interested in their other blends, though some of the prices extend to the heights.

La Posta 2006 Mendoza Malbec Angel Paulucci Vineyard

Malbec is the grape of Cot, “the black wine of Cahors”, once widely used for illicitly darkening wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone in vintages that warranted it. As Malbec, it became the informing grape of the Argentine red wine market.

I aerated this wine and let it settle for an hour before drinking.

Opaque, purple/red at the edges.

Raspberry smell, with plum and cherry, and oak.

Plum, prune, and black cherry flavors, ripe fruit balanced with plenty of acid, restrained used of oak.

I was pleasantly surprised with the wine and don't regret paying $17.99. I'll investigate Malbec further before buying this again, but I'm not greatly opposed to doing so.