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2012 Kaiken Ultra Malbec

Mendoza
Argentina

he Winerabblers don’t often drink wines this full-bodied so sipping this one was a fun change of pace. Grown in the Mendoza region of Argentina, this Malbec was made using grapes planted in the early 1970s at an elevation of over 3300 feet above sea level. Aged in French oak barrels for 12 months, some new and some used, the tannins were round and gentle in this wine.

It was a sexy, eggplant purple color that offered very little transparency when held to the light. On the nose, this wine smelled like a hot summer afternoon spent picnicking in a plum orchard bordered by ripe blackberry bushes. We found it had a mouthfeel that gently caressed our tongues as we tasted both the blackberries and plums, along with black cherries and bacon fat. This is a chewy Malbec with a lot of viscosity.

Big and bold, we would recommend opening the bottle and pouring enough in a glass to get the wine down to the bottle’s “shoulders” in order to allow it a little time to breathe. It could use a good ½ hour or longer with some exposure to oxygen to really open up and blossom in your glass.

This wine could really be a meal all by itself but if you must eat, we would pair it with creamy cheeses and bread (or crackers), cheeseburgers or blackberry cobbler topped with whipped cream.

Drink now through 2026 but if you choose to drink it young, please decant for at least ½ hour before serving.

SRP $15.

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