Good Malbec
 

Can anyone recommend a high quality Malbec that we can buy only in Argentina? Have tried finding names of wines here and all of my searches are coming up with just generic mentions of wine. We won't be in wine country per se, so would have to purchase in BA presumably. We're looking for a few special bottles of exceptional wine that are reasonably priced. Thanks!

When in BA go to Mosoq restaurant in Palermo Hollywood. They have a list of boutique wines not available outside of Argentina. This should provide you with some ideas....I don't believe any of the wines they had available cost over 6o pesos, or less than US20 and that is in a restaurant....fwiw, Mosoq's owner mixes a mean Martini and is an excellent chef. This restaurant is relatively inexpensive and well worth a visit....

Most wineries such as Catena Zapata reserve some of their wines for local consumption and are not exported.

And if you don't find anything special in Argentina...come home and order online....many exceptional wines from Argentina sell for less in the states than in Argentina..Achevel Ferrer and Carlos Pulenta VistAlba A & B, to cite just two examples....

see www.undiscoveredwines.com and get some of the wines from Cafayate, Nanni malbec, or Domingo Hermanos...
Best regards.
Angie

I agree with Flintstones. The Cayafate region produces some largely unknown and amazing wines. One of my all time favorites came from this winery:

http://www.welcomeargentina.com/pase...a/index_i.html

Try malbec with the argentinian beef LOL!

Would agree with Angie (Flintstones) that the wines from Cafayate are wonderful! We especially enjoyed the Torrentes, but also enjoyed Don David Malbec in a Salta restuaruant. Could purchase both wines in grocery store in BsAs, but have yet to find them in our area of US. Both wines were very reasonable in the store. Enjoy!

Ask for top of the line´s Atchabal Ferrer or Finca Altamira otherwise.. Superb!!!

Thank you all so much - this is great info! I've just added Mosoq to our list of restaurants and since we're staying at Home Hotel, getting there should be easy. I assume one can buy wine at either a wine tasting store or grocery store? Granted, much better ambiance at the former...

Tell the chef/owner at Mosoq that I sent you and you want to try the wine my party and I had...it was not on the list...2002 Cab (not a Malbec but an excellent wine)I think it was 100 pesos.....if I find my tasting notes or other details I will post.

Frappe, the Winery and several other wine stores offer tastings or serve wines by the glass. enjoy....

Here are a couple of links...

http://www.mosoq.com/

http://www.vinotecafrappe.com.ar/

There is another restaurant less than a block from Mosoq, Azema, that has excellent food....but the wine list is not as interesting....what I enjoyed about Mosoq were the martinis and the interesting but short wine list. Wines have been carefully selected and are not widely available....

Great - just what we are looking for! Will they know you as Dr. Dawggy? Claire

Of course! EVERYBODY in the BA tourism world knows who the good Dr. Dawggy is! LOL!!!

Here is a list of top Argentina wines that were recommended to me by someone I know who works in the wine export business in Buenos Aires.

Noemía
Bodega Chacra
Viña Cobos
Val de Flores
O. Fournier A-Crux
O. Fournier Syrah
Luca Malbec
Tikal Cab Sauv
Nicolas Catena Zapata
Bressia Conjuro
Bressia Profundo
Dolium Grand Reserve
Alta Vista Alto
Flecha de los Andes Grand Reserve
Lindaflor (Monteviejo Winery)
Viña Alicia Nebbiolo
Viña Alicia Cuarzo (Petit Verdot 95%, Grenache & Carignan)
Viña Alicia White Blend (Albariño, Riesling, Savagnin)
Viña Alicia Brote Negro ("Black Shoot)
Viña Alicia Malbec
Viña Alicia Cab Sauv
Enzo Bianchi Cab Sauv
Monteviejo 2000
Poesía
Finca Los Nobles Cabernet Bouchet
Finca Los Nobles Malbec-Verdot
Cadus Cab Sauv
Familia Durigutti Reserve
Achaval Ferrer Finca Altamira Malbec
Achával Ferrer Bella Vista Malbec
Cheval des Andes
Lurton "Chacayes"
Familia Marguery
Yacochuya
San Pedro de Yacochuya
Paris
Finca Humanao
Escorihuela Gascon "Pequeñas Producciones" Malbec Reserve 2002
EG "PP" Barbera Reserve 2002
EG "PP" Syrah Reserve 2002
Cinco Tierras Merlot 2003
Cinco Tierras "Familia Banfi" Blend

MJS - Thanks for the list - our goal will be to try them all in our 2 week trip!! Planning to bring aspirin, too... Claire

take lots of cash along with your aspirin. The list is amazing but most of the offerings are a bit on the expensive side, at least for this poor university prof. There are some poor man's substitutes though..Instead of Achaval Ferrer Altamira (about US 80) try Achaval Ferrer Quimera (less than half the price of Altamira) or the Achaval Ferrer Malbec (US 16). Wine Spectator rates the Quimera at 92 and the Malbec at 90, so they are still good wines.

This is a great wine list...Good luck and happy drinking....I have tried a few of the more affordable offerings and they are among the best wines I have sampled in Argentina...

mjs

Thanks for the great list of wines recommende by your friend! I used the list as the basis for placing an online order for delivery to my home here in the USA. Several were beyond my limited budget, but there were some excellent choices that are quite affordable. Others I could not find anywhere in the USA, so I will have to wait until I am back in Argentina to search them out....

Glad to be of help. I was lucky to be able to taste a few excellent wines while I was in BA a few months ago. Also tasted a few that were quite mediocre.
I actually found the Cabs in Argentina more to my liking than Malbec but this may just be my varietal preference. I was surprised at the wine prices. Wines from Argentina which are unknowns will have problems selling in the USA at the prices I saw in BA. There are so many good wines to be had in the $30 to $60 range from Bordeaux, CDP, Burgundy, Napa, Sonoma, Rioja, Toro, Piedmont, Tuscany etc.
Will be interesting to read the review of Argentina wines in the next Wine Advocate.

A friend in the States just sent me a gift of Malbec wines to taste before our trip to B.A. in April. It's a 3-pack of Pascual Toso wines: Maipú Vineyards Malbec (a great value wine I've already tried), their Reserve Malbec from Barrancas Vineyards, and their high-end 2002 Magdalena Toso (only 33 barrels made!).

I want to do a nice dinner where we taste all three side-by-side. What's the meal to serve? Steak? That's what comes to mind, but I don't know if beef stew or roasted chicken or thick pork chops would also go well. Is there any particular dish that goes well with good Malbec besides a BBQ'd steak?

Malbec is best with grilled steak, but also works with grilled lamb chops or pork loin in my opinion....Not bad with pizza either.....or mushroom dishes.

I love Malbec and am salivating at the info on this thread. Can't wait to try some of them. I think my main problem now is going to be losing enough weight before I go in March so that I still fit in my clothes by the end of the week there :-P!