Malbec from Chile.
SRP of $7 and available widely for $6. Sample received courtesy Seymour PR for review purposes.
From the bottle:
"Medium to full-bodied Malbec with blueberries and plum, rich tannins and a great depth of finish.
Earthy aromas and firm tannins pair well with pork empanadas, huevos rancheros or coconut curry vegetables.
Serve at room temperature now or store away from direct sunlight for up to 3 years after purchase.
Medium-Dry. 13.0% Alcohol"
We're a big fan of flipflop wines here at The Reverse Wine Snob, mainly because they always over-deliver for the price. This is flipflop's first Malbec and for this wine the California winery has traveled abroad, but not to where you might expect. Instead of going to Argentina, they traveled a little further west to Chile. I asked flipflop about this and vintner David Georges explained:
"Argentina has adopted Malbec as it’s variety of representation, much like New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc and Australia’s Shiraz (Syrah). It is a Bordeaux variety that was virtually unheard of until Argentina put a spotlight on it. The answer is that we find the best sourced fruit for the best price so we can continually offer varietal integrity wines at a highly affordable price. Chile is one of the most respected wine regions in the world (Cabernet Sauvignon is their spotlight) and since Malbec is not their marketing claim to fame we are able to source the same or better quality of Malbec from there than from Argentina to maintain the highly affordable priced flipflop without compromising quality."
I certainly can't complain about that although an unfortunate side effect is that since the wine is sourced from Chile but bottled in California it has to be labeled as non-vintage. This is all part of offering high quality wines at very low prices, which is something I definitely applaud. And given that today is Malbec World Day, a wine that starts in Chile and ends up in California seems to fit the bill perfectly. But before we get ahead of ourselves let's find out what it tastes like!
The flipflop Left Coast Malbec begins with great aromas of plum, raisin, violets and a little cedar. Tasting the wine shows flavors of blueberry and raspberry along with some sour black cherry and cola. This is an easy to drink wine that is definitely not short on flavor. Light but firm tannins add to the drinkability. On the finish some sour black cherry comes through a little stronger and resolves into jammy fruit notes plus a little coffee. Really quite good!
Also, be sure to check out the reviews of the flipflop Pinot Grigio, the flipflop Riesling, the flipflop Moscato and the flipflop Pinot Noir, and we'll have some more flipflop reviews coming soon!
See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.
Overall Rating: 7.8
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