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

2010 Kaiken Malbec

Business trips really are a great way to discover new wines.  While Jeff has been known to go prowling for wine when traveling solo (read his confessions here), I typically lean on my co-workers for recommendations.  This usually is a bigger task than it sounds, as I am frequently fighting off the wine list being tossed my way.  I thought after an unfortunate purchasing mistake that earned me the nickname “half bottle” this would ease up, but not so much.  Every now and then I can coerce someone else in making a pick, and this has led to some great discoveries!

One recent discovery was the 2010 Kaiken Malbec from Mendoza.  As with typical Malbec wines from Argentina, this wine is very rich in color.  It smells of dark fruits still in the wild (think berries and plants), with tastes of blackberries and blueberries and a smooth texture.  These characteristics make it an ‘easy drinking’ food wine.  While well balanced up front, it has a slightly acidic finish, and would benefit from aging.  The winemaker does recommend cellaring for up to 5 years. 

The blend is 94% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, and aged 6 months in 60% French Oak. It is well distributed (available at Specs and BevMo) and best part is the price.  You can pick up a bottle for about $12.  This is a tasty, guilt free mid-week wine.  Give it a try!

Wattle Creek Malbec - an Enigma

One of our inconsistently favorite wines is Wattle Creek's Malbec. We say "inconsistently" because it is very, very good, but every fourth bottle or so is a dud. It's not corked, spoiled, or bad in any discernable way. It just doesn't taste quite as good as usual. Weird.

We affectionately refer to Wattle Creek's Malbec as the "crack deal" because they only sell it to wine club members, but they'll let you taste it in their wine room in San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square. That's how we got hooked and joined the club. We tried it, loved it, and then talked ourselves into joining the wine club so we could buy some of that Malbec. Only a wine lover could work that sort of logic to agree to regular shipments of additional wine just to buy a few prized bottles.

Sally enjoying Wattle Creek Malbec at Bistro WestLast night, we brought a bottle of 2006 Wattle Creek Malbec to Bistro West in Carlsbad, CA. It had hints of plum and earth on the nose, rich plum with a little bright fruit on the front palate, and a mixture of earth and tannins on the finish. Unfortunately, this bottle was one of the occasional ones that didn't stand out. It was a little flabby and not as smooth and luscious as this wine can be at its best.

If this were our one and only try, we'd say "Eh" and move on to something else. But, we know that this wine has great potential and we have additional bottles in our collection that are sure to be outstanding. Given how much wine we drink, this sort of thing is bound to happen from time to time (see: "Every bottle can't be a winner").

One last thought -- we're pretty sure, though not certain, the issue lies on the winery side and not in our own storage. Why? Because we've experienced the same problem in Wattle Creek's own tasting room. On our last visit, we tasted two wines that weren't quite as good as we remembered, but the quality of the wine increased considerably when our host opened fresh bottles.

2008 Filus Reserve Malbec

Wine discoveries can happen at any time.  While dining at Scala’s Bistro in San Francisco last September, our waitress (after seeing our bottle of Malbec) recommended a few of her favorites from Argentina.  We’ve had an eye out for her suggestions, and finally came across one of them ~ Filus Reserve Malbec. 

We are always looking for good “mid-week wine” ~ those bottles you can open any time, any day, with a good home-cooked meal, or simply relaxing after a long day. With a price point under $20, the 2008 Filus Reserve Malbec fits that bill perfectly. 

Unlike other Malbec we have tasted, this one was not a fruit bomb. The taste was woody and somewhat sweet, like dark currants and figs.  It finished firm, with building tannins.  It was a very easy going wine ~ enjoyable on own, as well as with food.  We enjoyed our bottle with a Spanish cheese plate and chipotle chicken.  

They produced about 45,000 cases of the Filus Reserve Malbec, and you can find it at wine discount stores, like BevMo and Specs. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate rated the wine 90 points.  If you find a bottle, it’s well worth the taste! 

We are keeping an eye out for her other favorites ~ Tierra, Nieto, El Arbol, and San Telmo.  We can’t wait to try another one!

Super guilty pleasures: Malbec + 4x4

I had abstained from wine for several days (*gasp*) as part of my training for a 5k road race last Saturday night. After getting home from the race around 9pm, I felt justified in splurging a little. 

My post-race menu:

• 4x4 from In-N-Out (yes, that's 4 hamburger patties and 4 slices of cheese)
• Fries from In-N-Out
• 2009 J Opi Malbec

The Malbec was from the famed Mendoza wine region in Argentina. It had some light fruit on the front of the palate with a dry finish that had a bit of saltiness. I have no idea where this saltiness comes from (my imagination?), but it complimented the burger and fries perfectly. (I've mentioned salty wine before, the 2003 San Pasqual Monte Soledad.)

This one got bonus points because it was a shared bottle from my Uncle Dave. He visited my parents at Christmas last year along with his wife, Tina, and his son, Travis. Dave belongs to a wine club where they mix bottles from various sources and he had a mixed case delivered to my parents' house. My parents and I split the case, which has provided us with plenty of winertainment throughout the year.

And, in case you are wondering, I don't always drink wine with In-N-Out. I'll often drink Coke or even a beer. However, when you're chowing down on a 4x4 at 9:30 at night, wine is the way to go to wash it down!