2014 Reininger Walla Walla Malbec

What a fantastic Sunday!  It was about 65 and sunny so I took advantage of the weather and spend the afternoon in the yard, catching up on a number of things, mainly cleaning up some leaves and branches, and although it was enjoyable, I sure am tired now!  And what's better when you need to relax than a nice glass of wine.  Tonight I've decided to open a bottle of a recent wine club selection, the 2014 Reininger Malbec, a 100% Malbec from the Pepper Bridge Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley.  Now you'll recall that I'm not the biggest fan of Malbec, but for some reason I really have come to like Chuck Reininger's efforts with this varietal, so let's see how this one stacks up!

The wine is a deep, inky black at the center, with garnet along the edges.  The nose is a rush of green grass, leather and ripe black fruit.  The taste just wonderful, with a rush of ripe fruit at the outset, blueberry, cherry, plum and currant that transition to some vanilla and black pepper spice notes.  The tannins are somewhat soft, but very well integrated for the long, velvety smooth and very dry finish.  This Malbec struck me as being very Cabernet like, which is probably why I like Reininger's interpretation!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, it's still very young and will no doubt improve with a bit of time in the cellar, but it's still drinking very nicely now.  This would be a great steak wine, but tonight I am enjoying this one with a classic Italian Sunday dinner of hot Italian sausage with onions and peppers and some spaghetti tossed with garlic and olive oil.  Such a great wine to balance the strong flavors of the sausage and peppers, Tutti a tavola a mangiare!