$10 Tuesday: Mendoza Malbec

I got kind of burned out on super-extracted Dimetapp Malbecs last year so I haven't had one for a while. Fortunately, the Finca El Retiro 2006 Malbec isn't like that.

This Malbec is purple and fruit-forward as you would expect but, it doesn't have the concentrated fruit syrup finish you sometimes find on South American Malbecs. The label recommends decanting which is always sound advice. There's a lot of dark berry, some chocolate, and toasty almond on the nose.

On the palate we find blackberry, bramble, black cherry, raspberry, and more toasted almond. In terms of mouthfeel, I am reminded of something Temudjin's father told him to look for in a wife--"a round flat face." When paired with a marsala sauce, some anise characteristics made a brief but vivid appearance. There's also some mild meatiness on the finish.

Apparently, this wine might be hard to get in the UK. It seems that in 2002, the British importer Liberty Wines broke their commercial relationship with Tittarelli stating "we felt they no longer had a place on the UK market." We on the other hand, feel that there is always room for a new world Malbec that shows the above-average restraint in the genre that this wine does--especially, with a price tag of ten bucks.