Moving into autumn red, it’s Malbec time

While we are lucky to still be seeing plenty of sunny weather, autumn has arrived and the days will only be getting cooler from here.

A couple of weeks ago we covered where to look for white wines to drink in the cooler months.

The obvious solution when thinking about reds is to jump to your favourite style or at least what is familiar: Shiraz, Cabernet, Merlot probably come to mind for many but there are plenty of small steps off the beaten path to bring some variety.

Malbec should be a staple of every Australian wine drinker.

It offers familiarity to Cabernet and Shiraz lovers alike; and given its (relative) obscurity will often be much better value.

Malbec is native to the west of France near Bordeaux, but it is the adopted home of Argentina that is helping to put the wine on the international stage.

After being nearly wiped out in France by phylloxera, the grape thrived in the high-altitude area of Mendoza, where the conditions seem perfectly suited to the grape.

Plenty of clear sunny skies to ripen the grapes, but also enough elevation that overnight temperatures are quite low and help to retain acidity, which is lost easily in Malbec.

Given the grapes natural big bold flavours, if acidity is lost it can become too dry and its meaty/leathery characters take over.

With enough acid retained though, this helps to brighten the wine, lift those ripe juicy mouth-filling fruit flavours to the fore and allow the earthy/savoury notes to just sit in the background giving the wine some complexity and contrast to the fruit.

Malbec should seem a little familiar in that it is dominated by mouth-filling blackberries, plum and some raspberry in cooler areas, coupled with subtle black pepper, leather, coffee, chocolate and a velvety mouthfeel.

A recipe that would appeal to most Australian palates. While Malbec hasn’t found a defining region in Australia yet, the Limestone Coast and Clare Valley are producing some examples worthy of seeking out and at this stage it is best to look for producers with a good track record of growing and understanding the grape.

Bleasdale has a long history of viticulture in the Limestone Coast, so long that they were the first winery established in the area.

It has given them a long time to find the right sites suitable for Malbec and to work out how to handle a variety that is more finicky than you may think.

Despite the relatively straight forward bold flavours and velvety feel of the wine that may remind you of Shiraz or maybe Merlot, it is not as adaptable as those grapes. Retaining and managing the acidity is a difficult task and isn’t executed well often enough among the wines in our tastings.

Bleasdale’s “Second Innings” Malbec knocks many imported examples at the same price off their perch and is hard to beat for value.

It shows off ripe dark plums and red berries, subtle oak spice and polished tannins.

A must-try for autumn and winter to get a feel for the variety before adding other examples to your red wine repertoire.