Variety: 100% Malbec
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Cost: $11 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: Deep red and violet in color, with powerful aromas of ripe red fruits, strawberries, and cherries, with hints of coffee and chocolate from the oak. Good body and fleshy tannins with a long, lingering finish. An ideal match to full-flavored foods and barbequed meats.
My Review: So last week-ish I shared my thoughts on the 2014Â Trivento Reserve Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon, and I have to admit that I thought it was a nice enough wine, especially for the price. Because of that I was actually quite interested to see what I thought of the single-variety Malbec. Sadly, it seems as though the Cabernet in the blend is the one carrying most of the weight.
In the glass the wine was a nice deep red color, and on the nose I picked up ripe red berry notes. In the mouth the wine was fairly fruit forward, with cherry jumping out at me. On the finish the wine had almost sweet tannins – not to imply that the wine is sweet, but simply that there wasn’t that tannic bite on the finish that I think could have saved this wine.
My wife and I paired this wine with a dinner of grilled shrimp skewers and a ribeye with baked potato and asparagus. It’s not that the wine didn’t pair well with the meal – it did, as would most malbecs, it’s just that I found myself thinking I’d rather have had the Cab/Malbec blend, or this French blend I’d recently tried (review to come shortly) – I just wasn’t inspired to even notice what I was drinking, which is problematic.
For $11 I don’t think this wine is bad, it’s just that I don’t think it’s as good as its cousin, which I thought was a much better value. If you have the choice of which one to try, I recommend the 50/50 blend over the single varietal. It just doesn’t have enough character to carry a bottle by itself and definitely needs a bit of help.
Editor’s Note: I received this wine as a free sample for review.
