Last week Daniel Pi, chief winemaker at Trapiche winery of Argentina, hosted a lunch for wine industry folks in the D.C. and Balitimore areas at The Wine Market in Balitmore. Pi presented some of Trapiche’s fabulous Malbec wines—showing why Argentina is the world’s leading producer of this varietal.
In his presentation, Pi explained Malbec’s noble beginnings as a minor blending grape in France’s Bordeaux region. Malbec, like other Bordeaux vines, was threatened during the 1860s by a an insect called phylloxera that feeds on a plant’s roots. Carried to Europe on American grape vines, this pest nearly destroyed the French wine industry until the French began grafting French grapevines onto American rootstock, which are more resistant to the pest. During that time, Malbec vines were taken to
Argentina, where they eventually thrived in a phylloxera-free environment.
Malbec is still grown in France’s Cahors region in the southwestern part of the country and is used in small quantities in Bordeaux blends, but for some reason it thrives in Argentina like nowhere else. Accordingly, it has become the country’s signature grape. There it makes wonderfully dark and rich, fruity wines that have rounder, softer texture and flavors than many other dark-red wines. Pi describes Malbec’s flavor profile as full of violets, dark berries, red fruit, cherries, and plums. It does not have the harsh bell pepper notes you might find in some Cabernet Sauvignon wines.
First on the Malbec tasting list was the Trapiche Broquel, a Malbec that offers a complex and fruity profile that is quite a value at $16 a bottle. It is a blend of many other individually produced Malbec wines from the Mendoza area of Argentina, and it is aged 15 months in a combination of new and second-use oak. This one is readily available in the D.C. area. Look for it at Cecile’s Wine Cellar and Calvert Woodley and many other wine shops in the area.
In addition to Broquel, Trapiche selects three wines each vintage from among more than 400 vineyards. It then bottles them as the only Trapiche single-vineyard wines for the year. Which vineyards are selected can change from one year to the next. Wines from the next best tier of these vineyards are used to make Broquel, and the rest are used to make value wines.
These single-vineyard wines are of exceptional quality and usually retail for about $50 per bottle with limited production. At the tasting, Pi presented the three single-vineyard Malbecs from 2006. This vintage is the 4th year that Trapiche has produced single-vineyard wines.
This past weekend, Costco in Springfield had the 2006 Trapiche Malbec Single Vineyard “Viña Adriana Venturin” Malbec on the shelf for $39. Supply was limited to about 8 bottles, so if you are interested, you might want to scurry over there to see if they have any left at this very good price. Arguably, this was the best wine at the tasting. Made with 40-year old vines, this wine is both smooth and rich, showing Malbec’s best qualities and revealing why Argentina is the world leader in making Malbec wines. The Wine Advocate gave it 95 points and Decanter gives it 5 stars for being “outstanding.”
Also wonderful was the 2006 Trapiche Malbec Single Vineyard “Viña Federico Villafañe,” produced with nine-year old vines. The Wine Advocate gives it 94 -points and again it gets the Decanter 5-star rating for being “outstanding.”
Finally, the 2006 Trapiche Malbec Single Vineyard “Viña Cristina y Bibiana Coletto” was also a delight. Like the others, it has high ratings: the Wine Advocate-95 points/Decanter 4 Stars—Highly Recommended
Originally published on Examiner.com.
