This red wine from Argentina is a spot on $10 effort
Most of the malbec I taste for the blog comes from samples; it’s just not a varietal I much care for. Unless, of course, the wine is made by Familia Zuccardi.
What impresses me the most about this Argentine red wine is not just its consistency, in that it’s top-notch from vintage to vintage, but that it’s so well made that it appeals to those who prefer something a little sweeter as well as the rest of us. Most inexpensive malbecs only bother with the first group.
This vintage is soft and fruity (berries? cherries?), but it isn’t sweet; that’s not always easy to do. In addition, it’s so well balanced that the soft tannins and lower acidity aren’t overwhelmed by the fruit. Finally, it’s food friendly, but not too heavy for the summer.
Highly recommended, and a candidate for the Hall of Fame next year.
“Quick — to the retailer before premiumization destroys all the quality cheap wine.”
Fourth of July wine 2022: Four bottles offering value and quality for Independence Day
This year, the U.S. is 246 years old — so here are wines worthy of that birthday. As always, keep our summer and porch wine guidelines in mind for this time of year.
Here are four wines to start with:
• Tormaresca Calafuria 2020 ($10, purchased, 12%): Once, the Italian Tormaresca Neprica was the blog’s favorite cheap red wine. Then, it went the way of the rest. So imagine my surprise to taste this Tormaresca pink — a little fizzy, dark berry fruit, and a touch not light. Nicely done. Imported by Ste. Michelle Wine Estate
• Pedroncelli Sauvignon Blanc 2021 ($15, sample, 13.9%): Classic California sauvignon blanc — grassy, a bit of citrus, not too tart, and almost flinty. A three-generation family producer shows how it’s done.
• Trivento Malbec Reserve 2020 ($11, sample, 13.8%): Solid, professional Argentine red, made in the supermarket style — lots of sweet black fruit, but not a sweet wine and one that is mostly balanced. Previous vintages have been a little darker and earthier, but this is fine for what if tries to do. Barbecue? Indeed. Imported by Eagle Peak Estates
• Charles LaFitte Brut Prestige NV ($12, purchased, 12%): Entry-level French Methode Champenoise sparkling from a prestigious producer, but made far from Champagne. Yes, there is a bit of the 7-Up feel to it, but otherwise well-made cheap bubbly — some green apples, tight bubbles, and almost zesty. Imported by Vranken Pommery America
• Ricardo Santos El Malbec 2019 ($20, sample, 13.5%): Interesting approach to Argentine malbec — some oak, some spice, much less fruity and made to age, more in the style of Bordeaux. Imported by Global Vineyard Importers
• Textbook Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 ($30, sample, 13.3%): This, I suppose, is what passes for entry-level Napa cabernet these days. Professionally made, hitting all the notes it’s supposed to hit (rich, dark berries, some oak, some spice, leaning toward fruit over acid and tannins), and made with quality grapes. But a value? Only if you really like Napa cabernet.
• Satellite Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($13, purchased, 13$): New Zealand white is the second label from highly-regarded Spy Valley, and it sits about halfway between that and all those supermarket “Bay” sauvignon blancs. That means less overtly grapefruit, but still citrusy, but a little softer and more tropical in the middle. Imported by Broadbent Wines
The Wine Curmudgeon pairs wine with some of his favorite recipes in this occasional feature. This edition: three wines with my mom’s chicken parmigiana
My mom is a fine home cook, and one reason I write about wine and cook as much as I do is because she was so good. We even watched Julia Child together, in those long ago days when you had to keep a pad handy to write down the recipe.
Chicken parmigiana was always one of her best dishes, and my brother and sister would look forward to it as much as I did. In fact, I still have the recipe, written on a sheet of yellow legal paper, that I took to college with me.
Now, is this classic chicken parmigiana? Nope. Actual Parmigiano Reggiano was not easy to find then. But know that Mom never used the stuff in the green plastic shaker. And, frankly, sometimes classic is in the eye of the beholder. Food, like wine, is as much about who you enjoy it with as the dish itself.
I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit over the years, making the coating simpler and less thick; it’s parmigiana, not chicken fried steak. And I use a Julia Child tip for the cheese — vary it for more interest (but Reggiano, if I have it). One thing I haven’t changed: Serve it with green noodles, because we always did.
• Abacela Fifty-Fifty Tempranillo-Malbec 2017 ($32, sample, 13.8%): Lush, rich and full, showing off Oregon malbec and tempranillo — lots of dark fruit, red and black, a little spice, and fine tannins. Very nicely done.
• Renieri Rosso di Montalcino 2017 ($13, purchased, 14.5%): Polished, structured, and enjoyable Italian sangoviese blend that tastes like it costs much more than the $13 I paid for it. How often does that happen? Imported by Southern Glazer’s
• Gru Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2017 ($11, purchased, 13.5%): Italian red that takes montelpuciano to a place I didn’t think it could go — earthy, funky, deep, dark, and black cherry fruit. Somehow combines all that is wonderful about Italian wine with modern winemaking techniques. Highly recommended. Imported by R.S. Lipman Company
“Remember — buy me what you think I’ll like, and not what you think I should drink.”
Four suggestions — white, sparkling, rose, and red — for Mother’s Day 2021
The blog’s 15th annual Mother’s Day wine post reminds me of a couple of things, but mostly that I always need to write about wines that my mom will enjoy (and won’t have too much trouble finding in a store near her).
So, as always, the emphasis is on valuer and quality, with the reminder that we should buy Mom something she will enjoy and not something we think she should drink. These Mother’s Day wine suggestions should get you started:
• Balletto Sauvignon Blanc 2020 ($20, sample, 13.1%): This is classic California sauvignon blanc, which isn’t easy to find any more. That means a wonderful aroma of grassiness with a hint of melon, lemon fruit but not particularly tart, and a long, minerally finish. Highly recommended (and even worth doing a Zoom tasting to sample).
• Ackerman Marquis de la Tour Brut NV ($10, purchased, 11%): Terrific cheap bubbly from France’s Loire that’s made with chardonnay, chenin blanc, and – believe it or not – ugni blanc. It’s soft, a little sweet (honey?), with lemon and apple fruit. But the bubbles are tight, even though it’s charmat. Very nicely done. Imported by Palm Bay International
• Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare 2020 ($15, sample, 13.5%): This California pink, always one of my favorites, was a little less Doonish last vintage. But this is as it should be: Stony, almost austere, with a hint of barely ripe strawberry fruit to remind you it’s rose, as well as a very long and very clean finish. Highly recommended.
• Tinto Negro Malbec 2019 ($10, sample, 13.5%): I’ve probably tasted more Argentine malbecs during the pandemic than the past couple of years combined; the quality, as with this wine, has been much better than expected. It’s a bright, fresh and not too jammy red, with lots of blueberry fruit. But it’s not overdone and there is plenty of acidity and even a little spice to back it up. Very professional rendering of this style. Imported by Vineyard Brands
This Argentine red from a quality producer is top-notch $12 malbec – even for those of us who are scared off by cheap malbec’s frou-frous
Argentina’s Familia Zuccardi has been making great cheap wine even longer than I have been writing the blog; their private label rose for Whole Foods has been consumed by the case for more than 20 years.
So it’s no surprise that the Familia Zuccardi Malbec Serie A 2019 ($12, purchased, 13.9%) is all I wish entry level malbec would be – which means not sweet, not smoooth, and not cheap and ashy tasting in the back.
Instead, it has some spice in the front, a fair amount of varietally correct and ripe black cherry fruit, a full mouth feel, and what one tasting note called an almost creamy finish. And yes, there’s just enough of a suggestion of tannins so that the wine is in balance.
In fact, the Serie A is for people who think red wine is either too bitter or too rough and that it needs to be appreciably sweet to be enjoyable. This is fruity, not sweet, and it’s a terrific difference.
Pair this with barbecue as the weather warms up, and even burgers. It’s a big enough wine that it will taste better with food.
Reconsidering the 2018 Evanta malbec: A year in the bottle made it much more enjoyable
The Evanta malbec, a red Argentine Aldi private label, has one of those weird cheap wine stories that make it so difficult to decipher cheap wine. The 2017 was terrific – $5 wine that tasted like it cost twice as much. In an addendum to that post, I noted that the 2018 wasn’t quite as well done – softer and less interesting.
So why did the 2018 Evanta Malbec ($5, purchased, 13.9%) taste almost like the 2017 when I bought it last month? Who knows? Maybe it was the extra year in the bottle that took off the soft edges and made it more appealing. Maybe it was bottle variation, when every bottle doesn’t taste the same. This is a common problem with cheap wines made in mass quantities.
Regardless, the 2018 is well worth buying. It’s not quite as structured as the 2017, but it’s still difficult to beat for $5: There are more tannins and acidity than in most cheap malbecs, which tend to leave those out in favor of lots of soft fruit to make it “smoooothhhhhh. …” The berry fruit isn’t overdone and there’s not a hint of sweetness anywhere. No wonder it has been mostly sold out at my local Aldi since the pandemic started.
Reconsidering the 2018 Evanta malbec: A year in the bottle made it much more enjoyable