Today is World Malbec Day so in it’s honor we are drinking a 2009 Bodega Septima Malbec. This is an inexpensive wine but it holds a special meaning for us. A few years ago Nancy and I traveled to Buenos Aires and rented an apartment for a couple of weeks. Our apartment was in the Recoleta neighborhood and we ate several times at a local parrilla or grill. They had a limited wine selection so we ordered the Septima every time we went. It always tasted really good with the grass fed beef grilled over charcoal.
The color of this wine is a dark ruby and in the nose at first hits you with plenty of oak. That blows off quickly and you get smoke and dark fruit, maybe blueberries. There are flavors of oak, dark fruit, berries and black pepper. The tannins are moderate but nicely integrated and there is nice acidity. The finish is moderate with tannin and a little bitterness. Plenty of oak but not enough to cover up the other flavors. Hopefully in another year some of the oak will have dropped out making it even better.
This wine brings back pleasant memories of the family that ran the parrilla. They were very friendly and always visited with us in spite of the fact that we spoke little Spanish and they spoke little English. On the last night we were there the woman at the restaurant wrote us a note thanking us for coming to their restaurant and wishing us a safe trip home.
This Thursday we will be doing a tasting with Cahors (French Malbec) and Argentinian Malbec. It should be interesting.
The Malbec varietal is one of my top wine choices. A lot of black berry fruit with hints of blueberry and mocha. A really nice wine.