2015 Catena Malbec

Hooray for Taco Tuesday!  I bet you'll never guess what I'm having for dinner, so to go with that marvelous food, I've opened a bottle of 2015 Catena Malbec that I bought at Costco last weekend.  Catena is a well regarded Malbec producer in Mendoza, Argentina, and this particular wine is sourced from the family vineyard in the foothills of the Andes.  So let's see how this one tastes.

The wine is an inky black at the center with bright garnet along the edges.  The nose is a wonderful combination of earthy leather, black cherry, mocha and dark chocolate with just a hint of lavender over the top.  The taste is a rush of ripe black fruit up front, blackberry and cherry that transition almost imperceptibly to some coarse mineral notes of dusty limestone midpalate.  There is a hint of tart cherry on the finish, as the well developed tannins provide the base for the long, smooth and very dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a remarkably smooth Malbec that meets my taste (I'm not a big Malbec fan so that's a big deal!) and it's a solid value at about $16.  This wine would pair with a variety of steaks, beef short ribs, or just about anything you can imagine a gaucho eating.  But given the day, I am enjoying this wine tonight with some chorizo and bean tacos with all the trimmings.  Cheers!