Alta Vista "Premium" Mendoza Malbec 2005

The 2005 Alta Vista "Premium" Malbec is a beautiful, medium-bodied Malbec that drinks smooth and claret like, even at the tender age of two. Young Malbec is not always the tenderest of young reds in its youth, but the Alta Vista "Premium" is a welcome respite from the multitude of harsher, less expensive versions of the mercurial Malbec variety, many of which have flooded the wine market in recent years. In this Alta Vista offering, plum and assorted black fruits mingle with smooth wood tones in the nose and on the palate: These scents and savors provide the ideal framework for the deft touches of bark and spice that filter through the wine and add zest to an otherwise easy drinking style of Malbec. We suggest serving this enjoyable Bordeaux style Malbec at cool room temperature (no more than 68° F) and allowing it at least 30 minutes of aeration before consumption.

Malbec is a wonderful companion to nearly all kinds of meats, especially beef, and the 2005 Alta Vista "Premium" Malbec is no exception. Braised beef, Texas Barbecue, and thick T-bone steaks provide true companionship to good Malbec and to the Alta Vista in particular. Other gutsy, stick to your ribs kind of fare like Brunswick Stew and wild game provide excellent accompaniments to the Alta Vista "Premium" Malbec, too. Duck, grouse, venison, and ostrich are some of our favorite game choices. Full-flavored pasta dishes with either cream or tomato based sauces work well with this wine as well. Rigatoni à la Vodka and Fettuccine Alfredo are two commendable suggestions. Good, old-fashioned brick oven pizzas are great, too. Whether it is a simple Neapolitan cheese pizza, a deep dish Chicago pie, or a Pepperoni Delight with mushrooms, green pepper and black olives, the 2005 Alta Vista "Premium" Malbec provides great drinking pleasure, so enjoy!

Alta Vista is a family owned winery in the sprawling province of Mendoza, Argentina's largest and most important region of viticulture. In fact, winemaking is the Mendoza's only important industry. Here in the mighty Mendoza, in the foothills of the towering Andes at an elevation in excess of 3,500 feet, the D'Aulan family cultivates the finest and most traditional of Argentina's grape varieties: Malbec and Torrontes. From the D'Aulan's pristine vineyards, many of which date from the 1940's, flow some of Argentina's most interesting and individual wines. And like all of the best hillside vineyards in the Mendoza, Alta Vista uses only the pure melting snows of the Andes to water its vineyards. In the Mendoza, rainfall is all but non-existent, but then again so are rot, mildew and the multitude of insects and vine diseases that afflict most other wine regions worldwide. At Alta Vista, which means high view, the grapes ripen slowly but completely due to the highest elevation and the sunniest weather of any viticultural area on earth. Given the quality of the wines that Alta Vista has been fashioning in the last half dozen years, we have much to enjoy now from this winery and a great deal more to look forward to in the future.