Malbec Masters 2015: the results

Far from inky, over-extracted tongue-strippers, most Malbecs being produced around the world today demonstrate a remarkable sense of balance, as our Malbec Global Masters made clear.

The judges left to right: Patrick Schmitt MW, Nick Tatham MW, Beverly Tabbron MW, Matthieu Longuère MS, Clément Robert MS, Matías Chiesa

As with all our Global Masters, the aim is to pick out, without prejudice, the best producers of any single grape, and in doing so reveal the key characteristics of that variety at different price levels. However, before starting any tasting event, one always has preconceptions about overriding styles, and the top sources, which are either confirmed or debunked after a day’s sampling.

This was particularly true of our inaugural Malbec Masters, because we believed that the wines would be rich and concentrated with a strong oak-influence, while Argentina would prove the winning nation. We were right about the latter, but wrong about the former: makers of Malbec are actually moving towards the more elegant end of the winemaking spectrum.

Although the sampling sought to rate Malbec from every corner of the globe, in fact, it turned out to be mostly a New World tasting, and examples from France, above all Malbec’s homeland, Cahors, did not feature in the competition.

The tasting looked primarily at Malbecs from Argentina and Chile, although Australia, South Africa and New Zealand were present, along with one entry from Italy – Tuscany’s Fattoria Aldobrandesca estate, owned by Antinori. But the strong South American bias did mean that the judges were assessing wines made in a more fruit-driven manner, that is, relative to those from south-west France.

Importantly, the overall standard was high, which goes some way to accounting for Malbec’s popularity. Even at the cheaper end, the wines delivered plenty of ripe, juicy fruit and glass-staining colour. This is not a grape that produces green astringent drinks in the New World, although it can yield wines with plenty of tannic grip and a herbal, peppery character,
strongly reminiscent of cool-climate Syrah.

A BLENDING FAVOURITE

Sometimes accused of lacking complexity on its own, Malbec is complemented by blending with other red grapes, most commonly Cabernet and Merlot, which are, after all, Malbec’s traditional partners in Bordeaux. However, we found the varietal Malbecs from the best producers needed no bolstering. Indeed, the top wines from the likes of Trapiche, Doña Paula and Salentein were complete – and compelling.

As noted above, the best and most intense wines were from Argentina, although there were standout Malbecs from elsewhere – including two lovely examples from Australia: one from Bremerton in Langhorne Creek and another from Ferngrove Wines in Frankland River.

While Chile has a longer history of growing Malbec than Argentina, the former did not reach the high points of its South American neighbour. There were some excellent examples, however, such as Malbecs from Vistamar in the Maipo Valley and Viña Valdivieso in Curicó (sadly, respected producers of Malbec from the Colchagua Valley, such as Viu Manent and Caliterra, did not enter the competition).

So, Argentina dominated both the entries and the medals, and took home all the Golds and both the Masters – the highest accolade in the competition, reserved only for wines that are deemed outstanding by all the judges.

Initially, at entry level, the judges found that the Malbecs, whether they were from Chile or Argentina, benefitted from a touch of oak, with Casarena and Trivento picking up gold medals for their oaked Mendozan Malbecs under £10 – an impressive feat at these lower prices.

But it was not until we crept over the £10 mark that we saw our first Master awarded, which was given to Pascual Toso’s Selected Vines Malbec. There were also Gold medals in the £10-15 bracket for Norton, Doña Paula and Kaiken – the Argentine winery from Chile’s Aurelio Montes.

Between £20 and £30 we saw some brilliant Malbecs from Casarena and Trapiche; wines with richness but structure, although it was once we moved over £30 that we saw our second Master: awarded to Doña Paula for its Selección de Bodega – a juicy, bright, complex wine, which would reward cellaring. Gaining almost as high a score was Salentein’s Primus Malbec, which showed a touch more tannic structure, but similarly ripe, fleshy fruit.

WINES OF BALANCE

“These were big wines, with lots of colour, concentration, and some alcohol warmth, but, importantly, they weren’t unbalanced,  or tiring to consume. Indeed, our two French Master Sommeliers were both surprised by the elegance of the Malbecs.

“I always had an image of Malbec being very full-bodied, extracted, sometimes overly oaky and with a lack finesse, but we tasted a good amount of elegant, fruitdriven wines with a nice ‘terroir’ expression,” said Clément Robert MS, group head sommelier and wine buyer at 28°-50° Wine Workshop & Kitchen.

Similarly, Matthieu Longuère MS, wine development manager at Le Cordon Bleu, commented: “The perception of alcohol and the level of extraction is better managed now than it used to be. The same tasting five years ago would have been really exhausting and required more time.”

Such views were echoed by the other judges. For example, Nick Tatham MW, wine development manager for
Continental Wine & Food said: “The Malbecs have generally become much more elegant in style, especially the more expensive wines – and this surprised me.” Continuing, he admitted: “Several of the Malbecs were very French in style – in fact, some of them I thought were French, and turned out to be Argentine or Chilean.”

Furthermore, Matías Chiesa, a Malbec specialist, wine educator and head sommelier at Restó in Buenos Aires, said that the tasting showed a move among New World Malbec producers towards earlier picking and less extraction in the winery, although he confirmed that there are two styles in Argentina – a full-bodied approach with plenty of new oak and a leaner, brighter type with less woodsourced character.

POLES APART

Beverly Tabbron MW, head of wine training at Hallgarten Druitt, confirmed this development and said that these polarising approaches were evident in the day’s tasting.

“I noticed two different styles – the cool, high-altitude style, which is the most interesting for me, and the big, extracted Malbec, which is nice, but you just want one glass.”

Importantly, the judges all picked up on the sustained high quality level of wine among the Malbecs sampled, with each one using the word “consistency” to describe the entries in the competition.

Furthermore, the tasting proved that one can get a lot of wine for under £15, leading the judges to also conclude that New World Malbec, particularly examples from South America, deliver impressive value for money. So, combine a good price to quality ratio with a low level of variability and it’s no wonder that Malbec has become such a commercial success, particularly when sourced from Mendoza.

100% Malbec – unoaked

100% Malbec – oaked

Malbec blend (minimum 50% Malbec; all oaked)