Red wines Argentina

This is a fine, ripe, velvety Malbec with smooth dark fruit character and a long finish. It's tasty on its own, and makes a special
impact when you match it with the best steak or a really good barbecue.

It's a perfect match for beef and other roast meats, but the layers of sumptuous red and black fruit flavour are revealed alongside all kinds of savoury food from tapas to nut roast and beyond.

It's a winter warmer, a summertime treat when the coals are glowing, and decidedly delicious at all times in between.

Blended from the grapes of two areas, this is a premium, reserva-grade Malbec, bursting with cherry and blueberry fruit tinged with vanilla and tobacco from ten months' aging in French oak.

The Maipú grapes are from the Barrancas sub-zone, which is a little warmer than its surroundings and yields fruit with darker, softer character. The other 50% of the blend comes from the prestigious high-altitude Uco Valley, which typically gives wines with concentration and refinement in equal measure, and dark, dry undertones.

This is another polished, layered example of just how much wine you get for your money from South America when you trade up a little.

We are very excited to have found this affordable Malbec from the Maipú vineyards of Finca Agostino in Mendoza.

At this price it's an obvious choice for any savoury meal, but there's enough interest and depth to match a good steak and any other kind of roast or grilled meat.

A must in any mixed case of reds you might be planning!

This is the wine that goes into the Agostino family's own cellars, and by any standards it's an out and out treat. Pure Malbec hand-picked from both the Maipú Barrancas and Uco Valley regions is carefully assembled and aged in French and American oak barrels for eighteen months, with six months bottle aging before release.

Even at the premium price, this sumptuous wine seems like very good value indeed, with a balance of complexity, power and simple satisfaction that are rarely encountered together.

There are smoky, spicy notes from the first sniff, but the opulent, refined fruit is only ever caressed, not overwhelmed, by a rich variety of supporting flavours, with the purity and quality of Malbec at its best very much to the fore.

You might decide to leave this in your own cellar for a few years–there is enough freshness and structure to justify keeping it for a while if you've a mind to—but it's ready to drink now, with a mellow magnificence that will elevate any meal from a meaty pasta dish, through all manner of richly flavoured savoury dishes, to the finest cuts your butcher has to offer.

You may know Cabernet Franc as a blending grape in Bordeaux, or as a more significant component of the reds you're likely to find in French supermarkets further north. It is of course one of the stars of the Loire Valley, but in a modest vintage its vegetal character can limit its appeal.

The ideal wine-growing conditions of Mendoza's Maipú region allow the grapes to ripen fully and emphasize a richer, darker side in the resulting wine. There's a Cabernet-family blackcurrant depth to the flavours, but at the same time a herby, spicy edge, that make this a great choice with lamb and pork—try the Inicio Malbec with your steak!

If you'd like to read more about how the newcomer fits in with Malbec, here's a recent article by Amanda Barnes for the South American Wine Guide.