2013 Reininger Malbec

Happy Saturday!  I have my foodie creativity going which means dinner tonight should be pretty good, but it also means I need to open a good bottle of wine to go with it!  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle of 2013 Reininger Malbec sourced entirely from the Pepper Bridge Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley.  I reviewed the 2012 vintage almost a year ago and really enjoyed it (you can see that review here) so I'm hoping this one will impress too.  I've had this bottle for a few weeks, so I'm looking forward to it!

The wine is a deep, inky purple in the glass, with bright ruby along the edges.  The nose presents some lovely aromas of leather, blueberries, currant and a hint of tobacco.  The taste offers a rush of fruit, ripe berries, black cherry and a hint of mocha that transitions nicely to some mineral and herb notes midpalate.  The smooth tannins support, the long. voluptuous and very dry finish that seems to last a minute or more and practically begs you to take another sip.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, I'm not a big fan of Malbec, but this is one I could drink all evening long with nary a second thought.  The wine would be a terrific accompaniment to a variety of hearty winter dishes, from steak to braised short ribs to hearty stews, but as usual, tonight I am charting a different course.  I am enjoying this wine with some sea scallops pan seared in sesame oil over a bed of baby spinach and arugula along with some steamed rainbow carrots.  Yum!