Ed's wine blog

 

2016  TAPIZ  Malbec  Organically farmed grapes  Uco Valley Argentina

I spotted this wine in the Powerbuy section of the West Lebanon Liquor outlet, when I saw the combination of Malbec, Uco Valley, and Argentina I decided to try it. The Uco Valley has several sites that arguably produce some of the best Malbec wines in the world.

The Tapiz winemaker, Fabian Valenzuela, was previously employed by Bodega Catena of Argentina, which led the way for bringing the wines of Argentina to the attention of the world. He learned how to make wine with Pepe Galante, who was the head Winemaker for many years at Catena.

 The consulting winemaker of Tapiz, was the winemaker for Chateau Petrus in Bordeaux France from 1964 until 2008. He was responsible for making one of the most revered, and expensive wines in the world. Jean Claude Berrouet brings a world of knowledge and expertise to the team so they can optimize the potential of the excellent sites under cultivation.

The back label of the bottle says the wine has flavors of cherries, raspberries, spice and violets. I can't describe the wine any better than that, the nose has the cherries, raspberries and spice when first opened. Day 2 brings deeper flavors and scents in the nose, I thought there was a hint of red plums in both nose and palate. The tannins are fine grained, and the wine still has some youth to it even at 4 years of age. I'm tempted to buy 6 bottles and open one every 6 months to see how it develops.

Right now I would enjoy this with grilled chicken basted with bbq sauce, slow cooked ribs with a dry rub. I think that this would also be good with a Thanksgiving dinner, there are so many varied flavors that make up that meal and enough fat to balance the tannins of this wine. Of course a well marbled steak grilled medium would be a classic pairing for this wine as well....

Available at the West Lebanon Liquor outlet for $9.49 per bottle in the powerbuy section, they have changed the website, and I can't see readily which stores carry certain wines anymore. So it appears that you will have to select a store near you to see if they have this one.

This is a well made wine in my opinion at a good price, let me know what you think of it.

Cheers!

Ed