Malbec

Region: Argentina, Mendoza, Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo 

Grape Variety: 100% Malbec

Winemaking Process: Hand-harvested. Fermentation at a maximum temperature of 82°F-86°F (28°C-30°C). Maceration lasted approximately 15 days.

Aging: 5 months in French oak

Tasting Notes: A Malbec of a soft texture, great body and silky tannins. On the nose, it displays aromas of red berries and a subtle hint of vanilla. On the palate, it is pleasant and it has a very good structure.

Food Pairing: Grilled meats, pasta with red sauce, strong cheeses.


Awards:

Mundus Vini 2020 - Silver

Wines of Argentina 2011 - Silver

Wines of Argentina 2010 - Gold

Region: Argentina, Mendoza

Grape Variety: Malbec 

Tasting Notes: A glass-coating opaque purple colour, it sports an alluring nose of toasty oak, mineral, liquorice, lavender, exotic spices, and assorted black fruits. Dense, rich, and voluptuous on the palate, this is a full-bodied beauty.

Food Pairing: Hard and smoked cheeses. Spicy or hot preparation, especially those with pepper. Grilled vegetables and funghi. Red meats over an open fire.

Vegetarian

Tasting Notes: The wine is well-rounded, yet with quite a powerful attack of blended red and black fruit medley dominated by black currants, blackberry sorbet and red fruit cobbler, along with warm, slightly phenolic notes of ripe cherries and sun-kissed plums. The midpalate shows good balance. There are nicely ripe tannins coming through to the finish, which is a combination of cranberry and black currant juices, showing references of oak barrels, a touch of smoke and earth-driven minerality.

Food Pairing: This Malbec would pair well with dishes that contain beef, lamb or poultry.

Tasting Notes: Bursting with black fruit aromas and a fusion of toasty oak and vanilla notes this Malbec is the perfect creation from Susana Balbo's stable of Crios (young offspring) wines. Plump, with dark cherries and brambles complemented with a touch of spice and smoky oak, this full bodied wine finishes long with soft silky tannins offering up a lot more than the price would suggest.

Reviews:

92 Points - James Suckling: “This shows the beautiful quality of the 2018 vintage with a solid core of fruit, bright acidity and a silky finish. All here. Drink now.” – 92/100 JamesSuckling.com

Screaming value - Stephen Tanzer: Crios means “offspring”. Winemaker Susana Balbo has chosen this word to reflect the notion that these wines haven’t quite “grown up” to the same level of maturity as her other, more premium wines, but they receive the same loving care and attention as all of her wines. This is probably the champion of the range – a fabulous mix of crushed red cherries and toasty / smoky oak.

Region: Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco

Grape Variety: Malbec

Background: Vista Flores, is an extraordinary Terroir. Its sandy loam and rocky soils guarantee good permeability, limits plant growth and assures perfect ripeness. BenMarco Malbec is testament to Uco Valley where it hails from, proffering a bouquet of fresh black fruit, floral notes of violets, with bright acidity, firm tannins and great length. The fruit is 100% Uco Valley, Vista Flores to be precise, and the wine is made in a big, brassy style with bags of juicy dark fruit; firm, well balanced tannins and fantastic length. In recent times the BenMarco project has been overseen by the amazing talent that is Edy del Popolo, now General Manager at Susana Balbo Wines and a very famous oenologist/winemaker in his own right. It's great to see that BenMarco is in such good hands.

Food Pairing: Grilled red meats, sausages, seasoned or roasted pork, hard cheeses and pasta with meat-based sauces.

Tasting Notes: Los Chacayes is an extraordinary terroir. Its sandy, rocky loam soil guarantees good permeability, limits the growth of the plant and ensures perfect ripening. BenMarco Malbec is a testimony of Valle de Uco, endowed with aromas of black berries, notes of violets, pronounced acidity, firm tannins and great length.

Awards:

Tim Atkin 92 points

James Suckling 93 points

Wine Advocate 92 points

Region: Australia

Grape Variety: Malbec

Tasting Notes: Malbec is a rich and fruity wine, with a stunning deep red colour. Elegant aromas of ripe blackberries, vibrant blueberry, vanilla, and moderate spice with a ripe fruit finish. The flavour is rich and velvety, with notes of ripe berries, dark chocolate and a hint of spice.

Food Pairing: Pairs well with a hearty beef steak and a seriously good conversation.

Awards:

Sydney Internation Wine Competition 2011 - Blue-Gold

Tasting Notes: A young, fruity malbec of attractive red colour, vivacious and with ruby glints. Red and black fruit, such as plum and blackberry, and species in the complex background make this varietal alive. Velvety and with tons of fruit on the palate.

Region: Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco, Paraje Altamira

Grape Variety: 96% Malbec & 4% Petit Verdot

Aging: Aged for 13 months in French oak.

Tasting Notes: A wine of an intense, ruby red color. It displays aromas of blueberries and blackberries and notes of flowers and licorice. Intense but gentle at the same time, with an elegant finish and round tannins.

Food Pairing: Red meat, pork, poultry and stuffed pasta.

Awards:

Interntional Wine Challenge 2020 - Silver

VEGETARIAN

Region: Argentina, Mendoza

Grape Variety: 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec, 15% Cabernet Franc & 15% Petit Verdot

Tasting Notes: This blend is characterized by its intense, brilliant ruby-red color. Its nose offers aromas of black fruits, spice and light vegetal notes that are due to the two Cabernets. Meanwhile, the other grapes add texture and roundness to its mouth, where flavors of black fruits are followed by an excellent tension provided by its balanced natural acidity. It has an elegant, persistent finish and an exceptional aging potential (up to 20 years).

Food Pairing: Red meats such as lamb, venison and baby goat. It also pairs well with white meats like chicken, duck and rabbit.

Region: Argentina, Mendoz, Perdriel-Agrelo, Lujan de Cuyo

Grape Variety: Malbec

Background: Novecento Wines is a wine meant for the new generations of consumers. The wines of Novecento Wines are notoriously young, fresh and fruity. They are genuine, friendly in the mouth and easy to drink. Vineyards were planted in 1960. Trellis vine, watered through furrows with meltwater. Implanted in stony good-drainage soil in an area with a wide temperature range between day and night. The land is 900 m above sea level. These vineyards are characterised by excellent sunlight typical of this wine region. The vineyard yield is 7 tons/ha.

Winemaking Process: The grape is harvested from selected well-kept vineyards, with high ecological quality and low production. There is a phenolic ripen and sugar level monitoring of the vines up to the moment of grinding. Harvest is manual and grapes are stalked, refrigerated and fermented during grinding. From there, they are sent to small capacity vessels (100 to 300 HL), equipped with temperature panels that allow for refrigerant and hot water passage. Temperature is maintained at 25 ºC approximately. Alcoholic fermentation takes approximately up to 10 days and it is followed by the maceration process, which it spends between 10 and 15 days; the drain out moment is decided in the function of the total polyphenol index, together with the respective tasting.

Aging: The approximate of 30% percentage of the blend is aged in American Oak for a period of 6 months. Followed by stabilization and bottling. After bottling the winemaker allows the wine to settle in the underground wine cellar for 6 months.

Tasting Notes: In the glass, this wine has a lively plum red colour with purple shades. The nose has interesting aromas of oriental spices with gamy, animal underbrush. Prune, nutmeg and earthy notes combined with fresh violets and black olives. The palate has a delicate attack. Chewy texture and firm tannins. The fruity palate, full of cherries, prunes, sandal, incense, peach and chocolate. Nice backbone. Good finish with oaky notes.

Region: Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco

Grape Variety: 100% Malbec

Tasting Notes: A Malbec with pronounced aromas of violets, cherries and spices. Ripe red fruit notes on the palate are complemented by a subtle, oaky hint and excellently balanced acidity.

Food Pairing: Pairs well with grilled meats, burgers, cheeses and pasta.

Region: Argentina, Mendoza

Grape Variety: Malbec

Tasting Notes: Dark berry aromas are pure, with good depth. This is flush and packed with fruit on a balanced palate, while typical Mendoza Malbec flavours of spicy dark-berry fruits finish lightly toasty and peppery. Everything about this is right and approachable.

Food Pairing: This Malbec pairs well with pork, lamb and beef dishes.

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Grape Variety: Malbec

Tasting Notes: Vibrant red colour with violet hues, bright and full. Its intense perfume reminds of black fruits such as blackberries, the floral violets and the subtle contribution of wood. Intense in the mouth, voluptuous, with firm and marked tannins, which promises a safe aging in the bottle. A Malbec with all the varietal expression, where fruit, silkiness and balance stand out.

Food Pairing: This wine pairs well with typical Argentinean grilled meats and ripe cheeses.

Awards:

International Wine Challenge 2024 - Gold