Unless you were an educated wine pro or elder wine lover, you probably don't recall hearing much about Malbec until the mid or late 2000's. I feel like it was around the same time, if not right after, everyone and their mother was drinking or making Pinot Noir from every possible appellation. I'm no pro, so I learned of this versatile varietal alongside the rest of you during the mass influx of Australian and Argentinian Malbec at the time. But after it's ascension to #TrendingStatus it has had time to seduce some incredible winemakers who are turning it into the kind of wine you didn't realize it could be.
~Dave Harvey Columbia Valley Malbec, 2017
The Review: 4/5
This was all sorts of spicy at first... pinging off every part of my palate. "Malbec ALERT" hahaha. Letting it breathe for a while seemed like a good idea. True to form, Father Time graciously cut down the high notes, making it much more smooth, sultry and what you'd expect from the Columbia Valley.
The color is a rich cherry with a deep purple tinge...it almost makes you warm on the inside just looking at it.
The flavor shows up big time with juicy blackberries and over-ripe cherry. There is a bit of chalk on the back end...maybe just a touch of charcoal and old barn wood. Pretty darn good but it still wants to air-out a smidge longer.
I was fortunate to enjoy this with asparagus and cheese stuffed turkey breast nested on a small helping of pasta. Solid pairing!
I came back to this brooding bottle throughout the night (like I said, it was begging for some time) and it continued to smooth out while also showing up with more fruit.
This is definitely a bottle I would put away for at least a year and come back to with a decanter and a hearty appetite. I’m willing to bet some age turns this bottle into a monster.
Cheers!!
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malbec
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