Felino Malbec by Vina Cobos

sunset from our table at Merriman'sWe recently shared with you how wine made our Hawaiian vacation better by keeping “Vegas” and the cabana boy away, and saving us money.  Early in our trip we made a stop at the Wine Shop and loaded up on great wines to bring with us to dinner, which local corkage laws allows for you to do.  As California also has great corkage laws, we knew that paying retail, even with a corkage fee, was always a better deal than restaurant mark-ups.  The Wine Shop had an added bonus – partnerships with many great local spots that waived corkage fee for wine purchased at their store.  Awesome, as this fee ranged from $15-20. 

One of the restaurants on the list was Merriman’s Fish House, located in Poipu at The Shops of Kukui’ula.  Wow.  This place was awesome.  Great food, and atmosphere – not something you regularly find both of when dining on the islands.  The restaurant is set in an old Hawaii plantation house, with open windows looking out to the ocean, providing an excellent backdrop for sunset.  This is a “farm to table” restaurant, boasting that 90% of their products are locally grown or caught, using only sustainable methods.  Their fish selections actually list the boat in which it was caught.

While the wine list was quite extensive, and impressive (over 1,000 bottles in their cellar), we opted to bring with us a 2012 Felino Malbec, from Mendoza.  It was a perfect pairing to our very fresh and delicious meals. It is a blend of 93% Malbec, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Merlot.  We found the nose to be of herbs (like thyme) and a little white pepper.  The palate was full of dark berries, tannin finish with a little heat.  It was a great food wine, and paired well with our meals.

Merriman’s has the 2011 Felino Malbec on the menu for $56.  We purchased the 2012 for $13.95, and no corkage fee ~ Thank you Wine Shop! 

Where to find:

San Diego Wine Company - $15.95

Total Wine - $17.99

Specs - $16.62