2006 Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Mendoza
Rating: ♠ ♠ ♠ 1/2

Had the opportunity this past weekend to hole up at an Argentine wine cellar, doing some very judicious swirl and sip maneuvers. Up until now, I have been very excited-in-concept about Malbec. It seems that all of the grapes that go into the old Bordeaux “claret” take on a life of their own when liberated from from ensemble work. For us, the first breakout star was Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa. Then came Merlot. In Chile it has been Carmenère, and Malbec, is making itself at home in Argentina.
 
Down Argentine way, some Malbecs skew to the Beaujolais manqué, being a light and fruity quaff, a go-with-anything party in a bottle. And that’s fine. Some, possibly brooding over the decline of Argentina since Perón (it used to be the 2nd most affluent nation per capita in the Western hemisphere), are dark and dense. And that’s also fine.

Me being Goldilocks, I like Malbec to be “just right” with a red fruit freshness and some black fruit depth and finally some toasty aspects with decent (but not obnoxious) tannin support. The good news is that Argentines being Argentines, the whole International Style o’ Wine doesn’t hold much sway. (If my Argentine friends are anything to go by, Argentina is waiting for the the rest of the world to start making wines in the Argentine style.)

Also particularly good news is that since Argentines eat eleventy zillion calories’ worth of grilled beef every day, their wines are made pretty specifically to couple up with this bovine paradigm. Well-marbled beef grilled over a live fire is a cinch to knock the scratch off many a tannic fortress. The nice thing about these is that while, yes, there is some tannin there and also some oak (especially if it’s manifested as a “toastiness”), there is also really good acid present in a lovely balance. The latter two are key factors.
 
Many unfortunates who only skim these reports read things such as the above and begin howling. “I thought you hated wines that…” and the like. We hate wines that are clumsy, inelegant and oafish.This is because we, at Vinapedia Tower, are fully aware that wine is meant to go with something. (By this I mean “something beyond a gigapoint review from Big Wine Magazine.”) In order to harmonize with certain foods, a wine must have certain criteria present in a certain balance. Not rocket science, this. Argentine winemakers are to be commended for realizing that if some oak is good, then more oak is not necessarily better, and probably isn’t. Ditto tannins.
 
The other nice thing about Argentine Malbec is that prices are generally oscillating between “excellent value” and “larceny.” Schlepping through those available in the USA you’d have a bit of a job ahead of you to find many over $40. The other other nice thing about Malbec from Argentina is that it can age quite nicely. Most — even most of the ones I’d suggest — aren’t made for a real-l-l-ly long haul, but they definitely will mature wonderfully over the next 5-10 years.

Oh, one last thing. Malbec really likes aeration. A lot of the time “let the wine breathe” is just part of the oenophile dog-and-pony show, but in the case of malbec, there is an element of truth to it. Besides, it costs nothing.
 
Of the Goldilocks style of Malbec, I want you to give laserlike focus to the 2006 Altos Las Hormigas Malbec Mendoza. It has a bright, purple/ruby color. The bouquet is of blackberry/raspberry, cocoa/coffee, with a strong support of toasty, oaky spice and — we’re not crazy — leather, and an intriguing vanilla-coconut thing. Fresh, lush and delicate and sweet but not even remotely “sticky-sweet.” The fresh fruit aspect of this wine is what really sets it apart…highlighting the lovely, dense, texture and a long, firm finish with a tannic edge.

Pair this with wood-grilled steaks (especially something especially rich, like skirt steak) or black and blue lamb chops and pretend to be gaucho on the Pampas. At $11 a bottle, you’ll save enough to swing the airfare soon enough, even if you buy extras to lay down for the next 4 to 5 years.

—J.M. Garcia III