It’s time to put a little twist into these sparkling rosé wines we’ve been reviewing lately.  So, you’re probably familiar with malbec and know it to be a tasty, full red wine with deep, inky-dark color.  Would you believe that you can get a sparkling rosé wine out of it?  Well, not only can you get a sparkling rosé out of it, but you can get a downright awesome sparkling rosé from it.

Enter, Alma Negra Rosé Malbec.  This wine, like much malbec that we see in the US these days, comes from Mendoza, Argentina.  The winery is relatively young, starting with the 2003 vintage, although the vineyards where the grapes for this wine were grown have been planted for 18-20 years.

Calling this a rosé may even be a stretch.  It looks more like a sparkling white, but there is the slightest pink hue to the color.  Quite amazing to come from a grape normally known for its deep purple colors.

The nose offers a beatiful and harmonious blend of yeast, floral, lemon peel and raspberry aromas.  The palate is equally beautiful, with a mineral and citrus flavor that just tastes clean and refreshing.  It has a wonderfully creamy mouth feel too.  The floral notes return on the finish, which is also a touch salty.  This is a superb bottle of bubbly.

The suggested retail price is above our normal $20 limit, but I have seen this wine for as low as $16 at retail.  And the creepy face on the label is an added bonus.

Wine: Alma Negra Rosé Malbec
Variety: Sparkling Rosé Malbec
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 12.8%
Rating: 90
Price: $24.00

Find Alma Negra Rosé Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.

I’ve commented in previous reviews that not all malbec comes from Argentina.  Today we have the opportunity to check out one from Chile, the Maule Valley region to be more specific.

This malbec is from Apaltagua, not an unfamiliar brand to us.  We’ve reviewed a few of their other wines and found them to be nice, so we were certainly curious to see what they would do with a malbec.

This malbec is definitely different from the Argentine ones we’ve tasted.  The nose has a pronounced vegetal/herbal characteristic that I would describe as a cross of green pepper and mint.  I often appreciate the complexity and character that an herbal or vegetal aroma will add to a wine, but in this case it’s a little out of balance, making it detract from rather than add to the wine.  On the positive side, it also shows some clove, plum and cherry aromas which are quite nice.

The palate offers up plum and cherry flavors with some black pepper toward the finish, which is a touch on the bitter side.  The fruit is nice, but I still find myself questioning the balance in this wine.  I’m starting to sound a little negative, so to be clear I don’t hate this wine.  But at the same time, I don’t love it.  It’s a drinkable malbec, but it just doesn’t have the balance and harmony needed to make it a great malbec.

Wine: Apaltagua Reserva
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 82
Price: $12.00

Find Apaltagua Reserva Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Ricardo Santos is one of those brands that doesn’t do a lot of marketing, and doesn’t do a lot of storytelling.  Which means it’s a brand that we just don’t know much about, other than what the wines tell us.

Last year, we reviewed the 2008 Ricardo Santos malbec and we weren’t blown away by it.  But the 2009 has opened our eyes as to what this producer really has to offer.

The nose of this malbec is lively and interesting, with aromas of black cherry, blueberry, mocha and tobacco.  It’s all very harmonious too, which is important.  The palate is delicious, with juicy plum and black cherry flavors up front, followed by a spicy mid-palate and long finish.  The mouthfeel is nice, and the acidity is just right.

Putting the fancy descriptors aside, the equation that matters here is lively+interesting+harmonious+delicious = a really nice malbec.

Wine: Ricardo Santos
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 90
Price: $19.00

Find Ricardo Santos Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

With a history going back to 1890, Pascual Toso is one of the oldest wineries in Argentina.  But similar to many of the older wineries in Argentina, they’ve seen a lot of growth and development in the past ten years or so.  They have a couple different lines of wine, including an Estate line and a Reserve line.  The Estate line wines are their entry-level offering, while the Reserve is a step up in price.  This wine is from the Estate line.

This is one of those wines that was OK, but didn’t totally knock my socks off.  We get that a lot.  Since we generally taste bargain wines, it comes with the territory.  It’s not that it’s a bad wine.  I certainly wouldn’t turn a glass down.  But at the same time, it didn’t offer much to get excited about.

This wine shows plum and raspberry on the nose, with a touch of clove adding complexity and character.  Yes, that sounds interesting, but the intensity is lacking a little bit.  The palate shows blueberry, plum and raspberry flavors with good acidity, but for a malbec it’s a little on the light side.  The tannins are soft.  It’s a very drinkable malbec, just a little underwhelming for this varietal.

Wine: Pascual Toso Estate Malbec
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 84
Price:  $12.00
Find Pascual Toso Estate Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

While the roots of Bodega Norton go back to 1895, it’s seen a lot of changes over the past 20-some years. It was acquired by Austrian businessman Gernot Langes-Swarovski in 1989 and has seen a lot of investment since then to improve the quality and quantity of wine they produce.  In 2006 they were named one of the top wineries in the world by Wine Spectator magazine, a testament to the work they had done over recent years.

Norton produces a number of different lines of wine and this malbec is from their Reserva line, which is a step up from their entry-level wines but certainly not the most expensive wine they produce.

A question some readers might have, with this review going up right before Thanksgiving, is “can I serve a malbec with Thanksgiving dinner?”  And the answer is sure!  Why not?!

The aromas in this wine are on the darker side, with plum, black cherry, mocha and some clove to make it interesting.  The only complaint on the nose is that it’s a bit fumy from the alcohol, although it’s not so strong to be a total turn off.  The palate brings plum and cherry flavors with lively acidity.  It also has a touch of black pepper spice.    The tannins are moderate and the finish is fairly long.  While there’s not a lot to make this malbec stand out as unique, it is sturdy and pleasing.

Wine: Bodega Norton Reserva
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 86
Price:  $15.00
Find Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

We’ve reviewed a number of Tercos wines in the past and found them to be reliably decent, although not necessarily stellar.  But still, sturdy wines for the price.  Most recently we reviewed their 2008 Tercos Malbec, and now it’s time to check out the 2009.  This one will be a short and sweet review.

The nose is kind of tight on this malbec, but it does offer some light blueberry and chocolate aromas.  The palate has plenty of cassis and black cherry flavors, although it’s a little bit on the tart side.  It finishes with more fruit and slightly bitter tannins.  This is not at the top of my malbec list, but it is plenty drinkable.

Wine: Tercos
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.8%
Rating: 84
Price:  $12.00
Find Tercos Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

If you haven’t seen it yet, my column in the latest issue of Mutineer Magazine is all about malbec.  But it’s not all about 100% malbec, it also includes this malbec blend from Clos de los Siete.

While there are a lot of pure varietal wines that I love, some of the most exciting wines I’ve been tasting recently have been red blends.  This particular one is 57% malbec, 15% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 10% syrah and 3% petit verdot.

Clos de los Siete was a project started in 1998 by Michel Rolland, who had worked as a consultant in the Argentine wine business for several years.  The idea was to create European-style wines from Argentina.  Rolland partnered with a number of French producers on the project.  The “Siete” in the name means “seven” as in seven partners created this project.

And while the history is interesting, we like to get straight to the point here.  How’s the wine?  In a word, it’s outstanding.

This wine has a nice, distinctive nose with a wonderful chocolate aroma.  It also shows black currant and blackberry aromatics.  The palate brings a well balanced bounty of black currant, blackberry and plum flavors up front, evolving into dark chocolate.  The acidity and mouth feel are both stellar.  But most importantly, this wine is just delicious!

And while the suggested retail price is twenty bucks, I’ve seen it on sale for under $15.

Wine: Clos de los Siete
Variety: Malbec blend
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.0%
Rating: 90
Price:  $19.99
Find Clos de los Siete Malbec Blend with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

I talk every now and then about finding brands that you trust.  It’s good to find a few brands that always seem to get it right, vintage after vintage.  Brands that can be your go-to wines when you’re looking for a certain varietal or region.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to be adventurous and explore different wines.  But every now and then, you just want to grab something you know.  And when it comes to Argentine wines, Kaiken is one of those brands for me.

Kaiken concentrates their production on malbec and cabernet sauvignon.  They do have a couple wines with different varieties, but cabernet and malbec are their specialty and they do both very well.

Vanilla, violets, blackberry and plum tie together to create an exciting and aromatic nose on this wine.  And the flavors are just as fabulous, with plum, blackberry and dark chocolate adding some complexity.  There’s a leathery aspect on the finish, which also brings some black tea-like tannins and a lingering plum flavor.

If you like a malbec with rich fruit flavors balanced by earthy tannins and chocolate, then this is a good choice.  And if you like spending only ten dollars for a tasty wine, then this becomes a great choice!

Wine: Kaiken Reserva
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 14.5%
Rating: 88
Price:  $10.00
Find Kaiken Reserva Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Argentine malbec has become so popular recently that I get the impression that a lot of consumers assume that all malbec comes from Argentina.  But not so.  Malbec is actually actually one of the six Bordeaux varietals, although its popularity in Bordeaux has faded significantly in the past 50-some years.  It is, however, very popular in Cahors, France.  And with the popularity Argentine malbec has seen in recent years, other parts of the world are trying out this varietal more and more.  The malbec we’re reviewing today comes from the Colchagua Valley in Chile.

In general, Chilean malbec has a tendency to be more tannic than Argentine.  But this one wasn’t overly tannic and most importantly, it was good.

Sometimes when I taste a wine, I’ll visualize musical notes from the aromas, or perhaps tones is a better description, like bass, midrange and treble.  I guess it’s just a good analogy as certain scents seem to have a particular frequency.  And when a wine is balanced, the musical tones seem harmonious.  This wine is just that, harmonious.  When I smell the wine I get some blackberry aromas in the bass range, plum in the midrange and vanilla overtones in the treble.  And what makes them harmonious is that they complement each other with a perfect balance of each.

The palate offers some plum and blackberry flavors, but it lacks some of the depth I was hoping for based on the nose.  The tannins are slightly dry, giving some texture to the mouthfeel.  And the acidity is spot on, adding a little brightness to the finish.  While it’s not the richest malbec out there, it’s a decent wine for $12.

Wine: Calcu
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 85
Price:  $12.00
Find Calcu Malbec with Snooth

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.

Last night, we reviewed a very good, although relatively pricey, malbec from Cruz Andina.  Well, tonight, we’re checking out what a malbec for under $10 can deliver.

I sometimes like to give a little background story about a wine, but with this one I don’t really have much story to share.  This brand is part of the E&J Gallo family.  And that’s about all I have for you, other than my tasting notes — which will reveal that even without a rich story, I found this wine to be quite satisfying.

This wine has a fruit-laden nose with outstanding intensity.  It smells beautiful, with aromas of blackberry jam, black currant and chocolate.  It tastes fantastic too with blueberry and blackberry flavors and vibrant acidity.  The tannins are moderate.  The finish is long with tangy berry flavors and a touch of spice.  All told, this is a lively, fruit-forward and very drinkable malbec.

I mentioned that it is under $10, but I didn’t mention how much under.  It’s a mere eight bucks.  And at that price, this wine is a steal!

Wine: Bodega Elena de Mendoza
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2009
Alcohol: 13.8%
Rating: 87
Price:  $8.00
Find Bodega Elena de Mendoza Malbec with Snooth

Want a second opinion?  Here’s what others had to say about this wine:

• Benito’s Wine Reviews
• Wine at Five
• The Cork Chronicles
• Cheapskates Wine Guide

Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.