Toast to Malbec World Day : A Buyer’s Guide
Dona Paula Aluvia Vineyard
What is Malbec World Day?
Every year on April 17th wine lovers around the globe raise a glass to Argentine Malbec. I’m delighted to share that the theme for Malbec World Day 2025 is Your Malbec: share it your way. This message suggests a much needed feeling of freedom for wine drinkers today to enjoy wine the way it should be enjoyed - free of rules, wine snobbery, and other confinements of archaic archetypes. Your Malbec celebrates the diversity of the grape, a choice with every glass, every style, and the value of a wine moment.
“Your Malbec is a homage to diversity and the freedom of choice to enjoy Malbec the way you want it. Because, at the end of the day, it’s the moment, the people you’re with and the experiences you feel that really matter.”
Malbec World Day has been celebrated on April 17th every year since 2011 to honour the date in 1853 when a project was presented to enhance the country’s wine industry and start an agricultural school. This project would be the catalyst to Argentina’s ascent in wine production, climbing side by side with its’ flagship grape - Malbec.
Why Choose Malbec Wine from Argentina?
There’s so much to love about Argentine Malbec and these are just a few of my favourite reasons:
✨Diversity - Malbec is found is many provinces across the country of Argentina, all with unique terroirs, creating Malbec in diverse styles from fruity and full-bodied, to medium-bodied and subtle, and everything in between!
✨History - Malbec was brought to Argentina in 1853. It thrived across the country and now is Argentina’s flagship grape.
✨Altitude - Argentine vineyards are some of the highest in the world. The altitude allows a freshness and finesse unmatched anywhere else.
✨Quality - Winemakers are dedicated to their craft creating wines that are pure expressions of their terroir and representative Argentine culture.
✨Value - Argentina is one of the leading countries in the world to create wines with excellent QPR (Quality per Price Ratio).
✨Versatility - With its diverse styles, Malbec can be enjoyed in many ways, on its own, as a blending partner for cuvées, or morerecently as a cocktail ingredient. Any Malbec can be your Malbec!
I often share Malbec in wine tastings I conduct because not only is there so much to love and talk about with the wines of Argentina, but it’s a wine that most easily connects to my audience. After all, Canada is the 4th highest export market for Argentine wines!
Read Also: A Staircase to Success with Zuccardi Valle de Uco : A Q&A with José Alberto Zuccardi
Malbec Wine Tasting Notes
I’ve rounded up some Malbec that provide those wonderful characteristics we all love about the grape (plus are fantastic value!) to use on your next shopping excursion in preparation for Malbec World Day:
Dona Paula Estate Malbec, $17.85
Made with 100% Malbec grapes, 90% of which are sourced from the high-altitude, Alluvia vineyard in Gualtallary, Tupungato, of the Uco Valley . The other 10% are also derived from high-elevations from the Los Indios vineyard in El Cepillo. The certified sustainable wine then receives a 12 month elevage in French oak prior to release. This Malbec unveils intense floral aromatics with blueberries and wildberries. A ferocious array of ripe, wild raspberries and blackberries bursts on the palate with a rejuvinating, zingy core. Full-bodied and fresh, with a touch of spice coming through on the finish.
Bodega Norton Barrel Select Malbec, $13.95
Bodega Norton began its story in 1895 when an engineer that was building railways across the Andes fell in love with the Mendoza River Valley. The high-elevation vineyards planted for this Malbec sit at 950m a.s.l. Aromas and flavours of purple plums and purple grapes cascade down a silky palate with plush tannins. Wildberry in spades and hints of baking spice on a long, fruit-filled finish.
Kaiken Estate Malbec 2022, $18.95
Only 40% of this vegan, and certified sustainable Malbec undergoes a minimal 6 month French oak maturation so it expresses the purity of the estate vineyard located at the foothills of the Andes Mountains. A generous, full-bodied wine offering copious amounts of fig and black cherry, expanding to notes of leather and hints of smoke framed by firm, velvety tannins. A satisfyingly long, dry finish.
Alamos Malbec, $17.95
Alamos is a certified sustainable winery that is also the founder of Bodegas de Argentina Sustainability Protocol for Argentine winemaking. This Malbec has minimal additions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah adding some structure and depth to the wine. Homemade baking aromas of blueberry jelly, vanilla and blackberry transition to a medium-bodied, juicy palate with some clove adding layers on a persistent finish.
Trapiche Reserve Malbec, $14.40
This Malbec comes from the high zone of the Mendoza River and offers a more umami-essence and savoury side of Argentina’s signature grape. After nine months of oak treatment, the wine exhibits aromas of currants, black olive and fig. Soft-tannins on a palate edging towards dried fig, black olive, smokey meat and oak flavours that proceed on a lasting finish.
Postales Del Fin Del Mundo Patagonia Malbec, $13.95
This is an easy-going, fruit-forward, un-oaked Malbec from the Patagonia region of Argentina. It’s fun and approachable as it exudes pops of red cherry, red licorice, and plum on a succulent and punchy palate with delicate tannins. Drink now.
La Linda Private Selection Old Vines Malbec, $16.95
100% Malbec from high elevation vineyards in the Maipú and Luján de Cuyo regions of Argentina. A complex aroma profile of purple plum, baking spice, violets and earth introduce this wine. A field of flowers overlay blackberry and dark cherry flavours on a vibrant palate that concludes with a medium-length, peppery finish.
Luigi Bosca Malbec, $19.95
This bottle by Luigi Bosca is made with 100% Malbec from vineyards at an altitude of 900-1100m a.s.l. in the Maipú and Luján de Cuyo regions of Argentina. Full-bodied, and bursting with wildflowers, red plum and ripe cherry aromas and flavours. A slightly tight structure with medium, firm tannins. Suitable for drinking now or cellaring another 3-5 years.
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Malbec World Day on April 17th! Will you be celebrating?
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