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Tim Lemke

Tim is the founder and chief reviewer at Cheap Wine Ratings since 2007.

Santa Julia Organica Malbec

While there are several characteristics to wine that I enjoy discussing and writing about in reviews, my quest ultimately boils down to two critical measures: 1) Is it good? And 2) Is it affordable?  The sweet spot is when a wine does well in both measures.  But when it comes to wines I’ll recommend, it’s […]

Silvertop Malbec

I was a little suspicious from the get go with this wine.  I didn’t know anything about the producer (and still don’t) and the price seemed too good to be true.  The website listing on the label, silvertopwine.com doesn’t appear to exist anymore.  And the importer, Prestige Wine Group, doesn’t list this wine on their […]

High Note Elevated Malbec

High Note was created through a partnership between Click Wine Group, a Seattle-based importer, and Vista del Sur winery in Argentina. The name of this wine caught my eye because I often think about the aromas and flavors in wine like musical notes.  But I don’t think that’s how they came up with the name, […]

Alamos Selección Malbec

Like many wine producers, Alamos produces a couple different tiers of their wines.  I’ve previously reviewed their entry-level Malbec, which was pretty good.  This bottle, branded Alamos Selección, is the higher-tier Malbec from Alamos.  And while it’s at the high end of wines produced under the Alamos brand, these wines are part of the Catena […]

Trumpeter Malbec from Rutini Wines

Founded in 1885 by Italian immigrant Felipe Rutini, Rutini Wines is one of the oldest wineries in Argentina.  They currently have 255 hectares of vineyards in five different parts of Mendoza, Argentina. The grapes for this Malbec come from 9 year old vineyards in the Vistalba region, about 3,000 feet above sea level.  The grapes […]

Jean Bousquet Malbec Reserva

Our series on Malbec continues today with a look at a very good Malbec from a French winemaker who relocated to Argentina.  Jean Bousquet began his winemaking career in Carcassonne, France, where he spent over 20 years honing his craft.  In 1990 he first became familiar with the vineyards of Mendoza, Argentina and in 1997 […]

Diseño Malbec

Sometimes I search and search, but can’t find any background info on a wine to share with you all.  I combed through the results on my favorite wine search engine, Able Grape, and there was nothing enlightening to be found.  Even the website listed on the bottle doesn’t seem to be working.  All I have […]

Gouguenheim Malbec

I picked up this particular Malbec on a whim one day.  I hadn’t seen it before and had never actually heard of it, but for some reason I decided to give it a shot, and I’m glad I did. The grapes in the Gouguenheim Malbec were grown in El Vallo Escondido, in the Tupungato Valley, […]

Tanguero Malbec

We taste a lot of different wines for this website and thanks to advances in the technology of winemaking over the past 20 years, we don’t come across a lot of total clunkers.  There are plenty of wines that aren’t great, plenty that could be better… but most wines we come across don’t have me […]

Alamos Malbec

Not so long ago, we reviewed the Alamos Chardonnay and now we’re taking another look at Alamos for their Malbec.  Check out the Chardonnay review for a little background on Alamos, as I’m going keep this review short and get right to the wine. The 2008 Alamos Malbec isn’t 100% Malbec.  There is a little […]