Of Flank Steak and Malbec: 2009 Lamadrid Malbec

 Last weekend we opened our final bottle of the month,  Lamadrid's 2009 Malbec from the Argelo region of Argentina.  We opened this bottle to go with a nice flank steak and a great little home-grown side dish.  Like the last Cab I reviewed, this wine was a little lighter than most that we've enjoyed, but thankfully still worked very well with dinner.

The Lamadrid had a great full nose loaded with berries and spice.  This was an exceedingly smooth wine that had great notes of blackberry, raspberry, and cassis at the front of the palate.  As the Malbec progressed more spice made its presence known. The Lamadrid offered a languid finish with supple tannins rounding out this flavorful wine.  While not as full bodied as a most Malbecs, this was not a drawback thanks to the great flavor and easy drinkability of this wine.

We paired the Lamadrid Malbec with a flank steak, which I've really enjoyed cooking because they're so versatile and flavorful.  I paired the flanks steak with some tomatoes and basil from our garden, and topped them off with homemade mozzarella. The whole affair was then drizzled with a chimichurri sauce cobbled together from herbs from the garden.  The steak and Malbec were a perfect pairing with the richness of the flank steak working well with the ripe berry and spice of the wine.  The fruit in the wine cut through the acidic sauce nicely and offered a great counterpoint. 

I picked up the 2009 Lamadrid Malbec at H.E.B. Central Market on one of our trips north last year.  It was $14 at Central Market.  I've seen it occasionally here in Brownsville at the H.E.B. on 802 and Paredes Line.  You can find out more about Lamadrid and their wines at:  http://www.vinodelsol.com/thewineries/lamadrid.html

A Light Cabernet for June: Alambrado's Gran Seleccion Cabernet Sauvignon

June has been unseasonable hot this year, so I'm going to blame the weather for our lack of wine drinking this month.  Sadly we've only opened two bottles, and both of them were from Argentina and were enjoyed fairly recently.  The first bottle was Alambrado's Gran Seleccion 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, one of our few remaining Wall Street Journal Wine Club selections.

This was an extremely light Cab, which made it better suited to the inhospitable heat.  The wine started off like most Cabs with a nose that was lively and rich with the proper dark berry and cherry notes.  However, the lightness was immediately noticeable on the palate. The usual fullness found in most Cabs was absent, but that wasn't entirely a bad thing.  Cherry and currant strike first followed by nice undertones of smoky oak.  Light tannins rounded out this easy drinking summer wine.  The Alambrado opened up very nicely the second day.  The flavors became richer, but it was still lighter than your standard Cab.

We opened the wine to go with a couple of NY strips that H.E.B. had on sale.  While the wine did not go as well as a deeper and full Cab would have, the Alambrado still did passably well with the nicely charred beef.  If you're a fan of traditional full Cabs, this wine is not for you.  However, if you're looking for a decently priced lighter red that is more akin to some of the Spanish and Italian reds then this is a great wine for you.

This was a Wall Street Journal Wine Club wine that is no longer available on their site.  You can still find it available at a few online retailers for about $13.