2002 Finca Flichman Reserva Shiraz – $5

Finca means both vineyard and winery in Argentina, the Reserva designation indicates that this is estate grown and bottled. The Vineyard is located in the Barrancas region of Mendoza Province. Flichman is owned by a large wine conglomerate from Portugal and has been producing wines in Argentina since 1965. The Shiraz was stored in oak barrels for 6 months. this wine retailed for between $12 and $17 when first released, but now that it is toward the end of it’s shelf life, the price has come way down.

The color is deep dark opaque crimson red. The nose is smoke, violets, spice drops and red plums. The mouth feel is slightly watery, the oak and tannins are evident, but under the surface. The taste is muted dark fruit, the name says Shiraz, but this is not like an Australian wine. Not a fruit bomb, but blueberries, hints of tea, plums and stewed fruit. The finish is lengthy with bits of vanilla and cranberry juice. The Finca Flichman would stand up to a steak, but would also work for lighter food. You can really get a lot of wine for your money with South American wines.

2009 Cahors Malbec Tasting “BLACK WINE”

At the latest tasting, we sampled not white wine, not red wine, but BLACK WINE! The “Black wine of Lot” as it’s known, or wines from the Cahors region in France. Here, they make ROBUST wines using mostly Malbec, with a little Tannat or Merlot thrown in to soften things up. If you like a deep intense color to your wine, you are going to love Cahors Malbecs. In the past these wine were on the “wild and wooly” side, but these days these wines are mildly oaked, have well integrated tannins and are very fruit forward, especially in the under $25 range.

Up until a couple of months ago, France didn’t allow the winemakers to put the grape varietal on the front of the label, only the region and/or the individual estate from where the wine was produced. So if you wanted a Malbec you had to know that Cahors was the region to look for, well needless to say France lost market share to every other Malbec producing region (Argentina for one).  The French finally  changed their laws governing the labeling of their wines and can now put the grape on the front label (just like the rest of the world’s winemakers). And guess what, French Malbec is affordable and tastes great.

My faves were the 100% Malbecs, but equally as good were the ones using a little Merlot to smooth things out a bit. The Australian Shiraz has pulled ahead of French Syrah, without much of a fight from the French, but France is fighting back on Malbec. There were some excellent wines available in the  $12 to $15 range.

So when drinking Cahors wine, bring a toothbrush, cuz this stuff had everyone smiling the smile of happy black teeth.

2008 Maipe Malbec

Estate grown and bottled in Mendoza, Argentina, purchased for $7.99. The nose reminds me of a roadside fruit stand in the autumn during harvest, all fruit, flowers and green grass. The color is dark, rich and opaque. Alcohol content is a reasonable 13.7%. It tastes of dark fruit, plums and berries with a slight pull from the tannins in the back of your mouth. It thickly coats your mouth, this is no wimpy, watery wine. The finish is long and intense.

Did I say this wine sells for $7.99? A few years back, when I first tasted Argentinian wine they all had a “green stick” flavor that I wasn’t too fond of, but those days are long gone. This wine is not just good considering the cost, it is simply flat out good. This one’s going on Cheapwinefinder’s Top Ten Wines of 2009 list.

And you can get it here for < $10.

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