Finca Flichman Malbec
In the glass: Finca Flichman Malbec is a dense inky-blackish red color with a completely opaque core going out into a deep purplish-red rim definition with high viscosity.
On the nose: This wine is redolent with graphite-laced black fruit, cherries, warm berry cobbler, tar elements, sweet tobacco leaves, black licorice Twizzlers and ground star anise with underlying earth-driven minerals and hints of charred meat.
On the palate: It attacks with the combined force of crushed black cherries, marionberries and sloe fruit and completely coats the inside of the mouth in a nicely rounded and flavorful medley of red and blackberry smoothie, blackberry sorbet, cherry fruit roll-ups and firm, yet soft tannins through the middle into a nice and grippy finish that commands attention.
Odds and ends: I somehow find myself coming back to the irresistible wines of Mendoza in Argentina. Mendoza is by itself one of the world’s largest continuously planted vineyard areas, if not the biggest in terms of sheer acreage. Malbec thrives here on the slopes and plains in front of the Andes mountain range. This grape variety, transplanted from Bordeaux by French immigrants in the middle of the 19th century, has done Argentina proud. Finca Flichman is one of the many great wineries in the heart of Mendoza cranking out these tasty and reasonably priced wines. Again, I am somewhat dumbfounded at how they can always sell so cheap in the U.S. retail market, but as consumers we enjoy buying good wines for as little as this. It’s a full-bodied, muscular sort of wine so it demands a good medium-rare burger to be paired with. Never had wine with your burger? This is a good time to try it out. Drink it now through 2015.
Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.
