RED WINES: ARGENTINA

Ricominciare Malbec - Cabernet Franc
Argentina: Mendoza (Valle de Uco)
Malbec 60%, Cabernet Franc 40% (red)
2009
$12.99
88 points
Raspberry, cassis, maybe a hint of anise and an herbal finish on this Malbec-Cab Franc blend from the Land of Leo. This is a fairly well-balanced wine with a nice mouth feel (bit of velvet on the gums) and a deep, dark violet color in the glass. At $12.99 it's a fine wine, an excellent bargain...but in the final analysis, a fading mid-palette and an underwhelming length keep this one from being a +MUST BUY+. Nose offers deep plum and some soft pepper. Worth having in the line-up, no question, but it's Dani Alves, not Lionel Messi. A solid wine, even more so when options are limited, but by no means a super-star. As for a pairing? Just BEGS for chocolate! Available at Binny's in Chicago.

Bodegas Nieto Senetiner Pinot NoirArgentina: Mendoza
Pinot Noir 100% (red)
2009
$11.99
86 points
Had a few glasses of this Argentinian Pinot at Dunlays on Clark last Thursday evening--our buddy Wes was in, visiting from Zurich--and while this medium, rather gentle wine worked well with my fried calamari and cocktail sauce, it's nothing to get excited about by its lonesome. The rich ruby color is beautiful in the glass, and the nose offers some dark red cherry. And while the mouth feel is decent, the taste profile is a one-for-three hitter, striking out on the initial attack (a slow starting wine, with a weak opening...waiting for fruit...waiting...waiting...). The mid-palette is only slightly better, with cherries coming through, and maybe plums, too, but nothing spectacular....let's call it a hard grounder deep in the hole, fielded by the shortstop, throwing out the runner in a bang-bang play at first. It isn't until the finish that this wine reaches base safely, a unique steely, metallic, mineral finish, which I find both interesting and refreshing. As the wine opened up, just a hint of barnyard crept in, too. The length is, perhaps, just a hair above average. Overall, by no means a lousy wine...just average. For twelve bucks the Nieto Pinot Noir is worthwhile when faced with really poor options at the 7-11 or drug store, but otherwise, I think you can do better.

Tilia Malbec (by Bodegas Esmeralda)
Argentina: Mendoza
Malbec 100% (red)
2009
$8.99
85+ points
Tilia is the Latin word for Linden, and this Argentinian Malbec is named Tilia in honor of the native Linden trees of the Mendoza region, in eastern Argentina, in the foothills of the Andes. Had three glasses of Tilia at Dunlays on Clark on burger night with Dane, Joanna & Marshall last night (Wednesdays, $5.00 burgers and fries, great deal), and since that clearly makes me an expert on this wine, let me start with the positive qualities of the Tilia Malbec. The Tilia offers wonderful up-front black fruit on the palette (black berry), an initial attack that is rich, smooth and delightful. And it follows with a bit of spice (white pepper comes to mind), before closing shop for the day with just a hint of vanilla and some toasty oak (by no means over-the-top oak, either). In addition, this wine, while roughly $8.00 a glass in restaurants, retails for an average of about $8.99 per bottle in stores. As good as all of this may sound, there are some real challenges here, too, challenges that keep this wine (which, it seems to me, really aspires to be something cool) from reaching its full potential. First, that pleasing fruit attack passes like a high-speed train: in your face one second and long-gone the next. Second, there is no transition at all between the initial blast of fruit and the secondary flavors of spice, vanilla and toast: this is a wine with a great beginning, an okay middle (even if it seems disjointed from the opening), and NO finish…along with almost no length. It just vanishes, almost instantly, after the quick mid-palette. This wine reminds me of a promising young pitcher who has a great spring training but then gets rocked in "The Show" come April, and is quickly sent back down. Bodegas Esmeralda certainly has something to offer based on this wine, but like that kid riding the team bus to Grand Rapids at midnight, it’s just not ready for the Bigs. The Tilia is a serviceable wine, but has some serious holes in its game. It's okay when your working with a short bench and have few viable options, but not a player you get excited about penciling into your wine lineup.