LCBO Sale Pick of the Week: Mar. 10

Trapiche 2013 Broquel Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina)

Sale $12.95, Regular $14.95
Discount (until Mar. 27): $2.00
LCBO # 234385 | 750 mL bottle

Tastes like: Blackberry, plum, blueberry jam and nice savoury herbs, balsam, mint. Tobacco and smoke, meaty. A hefty wine with lots to love.
Pairs with: Southern barbecue, marinated tri-tip, Argentine steak (duh), spicy things (including Asian barbecue), big smoky stinky cheese.
Good for: Poker night or any other long night. Things that are on fire.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Drink: Now to 2019.

Why we're drinking this
Though it’s been made famous by Argentina these last 20 years or so, Malbec originated in France as an adjunct to some Bordeaux blends. While it thrived in the southerly town of Cahors, Bordeaux’s northern climes proved challenging. Killer frost in 1956 wiped it out, and it was never replanted. (Merlot took its place in the Bordeaux blend.) Enter Argentina, which has been growing Malbec from Bordeaux cuttings since 1852. The grape thrives at high altitude, and so Mendoza (1000+ metres) is the “it” spot. Trapiche makes some of the most consumer friendly wines coming out of here. They’re well priced and well made.

Tasting note
You gotta dig into this wine. There’s a lot of big blue and black fruit (plum, berries) both fresh and stewed. The flavours are clean, precise and irresistible. Some nice fresh thyme and mint, which gives way to cedar, tobacco and a whiff of smoke and a finish of black olive and tar. But the fresh fruit there as the flavours trail away… Bright acidity and soft chalky tannins, medium balanced finish (alcohol just a touch warm). It’s a meaty, muscular, big wine, but has charms nonetheless. It rewards repeated sips. (Tip: You could cellar a case of this for a year or two, or even just 'til the fall when it’ll make a great house wine.)

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This week's selection by kwäf Taste Bud Dick Snyder