Vinalba Reserva Malbec 2007 (£9.99 Majestic)

Hevre J Fabre is a Bordeaux winemaker who saw the potential in Argentina’s main wine region; Mendoza, some twenty years ago. He jumped his French ship to buy a vineyard and set up a winery in the now uber-prestigious sub-region of Lujan De Cuyo. Malbec lovers take note of this place, it really is the vino Hollywood of Mendoza with Malbec being the leading luvvie. These days he’s busy reaping the rewards for his vision. One very well deserved reward was Decanter’s Trophy for Best Varietal Under £10 for his Vinalba Reserva Malbec 2006.


I’d recently attended a tasting of the crème of Argentina’s crème of ‘Super Reserve Wines’ from Wines Of Argentina (I know, tough breaks) and really did a big double take when seeing the price of this wine after tasting it. Gorgeous nose on the thing. Lovely orange peel becoming almost marmalade accompanied by bitter chocolate. In fact it smells a lot like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange! Rich and ripe black fruits in the mouth and a full body. Sweet spices on the finish with a hint of licorice and fine tannins giving a balanced dryness. Tried this at our O2 restaurant after the rush of rockers going to see Nickleback in the arena. Paired it with a medium sirloin with a rich, creamy mushroom sauce. The full, ripe black fruits were more than enough to do battle with the meaty sauce whilst that marmalade did what it does so well with your Saturday morning fry-up breakfast and slice through the belt of crackling fat. It also made me want to try making a chocolate orange sauce for steaks. I’ll let you know how that goes! Salude!