WTN: Achaval-Ferrer Malbec 2007

• 2007 Achaval-Ferrer Malbec - Argentina, Mendoza (1/22/2009)
  c.15€; 13,5% abv. Upon opening, the oak and ripeness do stick out a bit as a combination of strawberry sweetness and butterscotch scents. With a little bit of air and time it turns into a much more likeable wine: meat, game bird's blood, dark fruit; sweet but not over the top fruit. The initially exuberant fruit calms down to a savoury, very meaty style with quite high acidity - which brings in the refreshing touch needed in this wine. Though I thought Achaval-Ferrer made wines leaning more to the "modern" style, I did rather enjoy this entry level Malbec!
  
  In fact, apart from the astonishingly lovely Bodega Nofal Alonso 2003 that I recently posted on, I haven't tasted many Argentineas that would be so much to my taste.

Posted from CellarTracker

One store here in town has the entire allocation for our area I think. I started stocking up on the `06 last year and now putting away my first `07. $28 here Otto and close to $50 for the higher end runs.
How do you think the `07 will age for a couple of years?

Glad to hear the experience was relatively positive. Hope you get a chance to taste at least one of the three Fincas sometime soon, as it is thanks to wines like them that, IMHO, one cannot condemn, wholesale, wines made in the super ripe style.

Otto, thanks for sharing your notes. Have you tried the Quimera made by Achaval Ferrer...?? Its their only blend. Since you seem to enjoy the Achaval style, I would suggest you seek it out.

Bob, I can only see it getting better over a couple years. It has the structure and concentration for short, perhaps even medium term aging, and for my tastes the fruit certainly could do with some disappearing.

Oswaldo, the Fincas aren't available here (at least not on the current list of our monopoly). But we do have the Quimera, so as Alejandro suggests, I might have a go at that soon.

close to $50 for the higher end runs.

I guess you mean just the Quimera, as the 3 Fincas run $75-100 in US, while the base Malbec is about $15-20.

I'm with Oswaldo, the 3 single vineyard Malbecs are my favorite South American wines, and among my favorite "modern/international" wines period.