Diseño 2008 Malbec

This weekend I had a visitor from Brooklyn. After a day of whiskey tasting at Pauls, running around the Mall, staring at hundreds of portraits in the Portrait Gallery, and going on a failed food mission to the National Museum of the American Indian, we decided to just cook dinner at home and relax for a bit before making any evening plans. I had a couple red peppers in the fridge, so I thought I'd do a tex/mex stuffing and spinach quesadillas on the side. I was craving olives, so we stopped at Whole Foods on the way home to pick up the last few ingredients. Somehow we settled on a stuffing of sardines, rice, kalamata olives, onion, jalapeno, cherry tomatoes, rice, cilantro, black beans, and Monterrey cheese. It was no longer tex/mex. It had become Mexiranean (clever, right?). Since the peppers were a little spicy and a little latin, we went with a Malbec.

I got this bottle the other night at Superfresh for $8.99, on Viv's recommendation. It is made in Mendoza, Argentina, an area known for its incredible Malbecs. When I googled Diseño Malbec, all sorts of positive reviews popped up for the past few vintages, so I guess this is generally a solid choice. (Thanks Viv.) I must say, this one did not disappoint. I will definitely get it again.

The wine was good, but it wasn't all sunshine and giggles. We ran into some pretty serious cork issues within the first minute and a half. Not to toot my own horn, but I can usually uncork a bottle with the best of them. This one, however, put up a fight and threatened to bend the life out of our wine key. Eventually, we got it out in a two step attack, but I was quite concerned for a while. On pouring the first taste, I noticed it had a dark, muted purple color, almost opaque in the glass. The first sip was already good, and the wine didn't need any time to open up or settle down. It was soft, warm, and mellow, with a little bit of chocolate and just a touch of fruitiness. This Malbec was on the drier side, but it wasn't too thin and the tannins were completely undetectable, so it didn't create that sticky suction at the back of my throat. It was so delightful, I'm shocked it lasted all the way through cooking and eating. I think the good conversation might have had something to do with it.