Balanced, easy to drink and with decent complexity, this is a nice find for just $9. We review the Belhara Estate Malbec from Trader Joe’s.
100% Malbec from a single vineyard in the Uco Valley of Mendoza, Argentina. The wine was fermented in concrete and spends 18 months in French oak barrels.
The wine is available exclusively at Trader Joe’s in the US and sells for just $8.99. It is imported by Evaki Inc.
Well, here’s an interesting one. A single vineyard estate grown Malbec for under $10? Sound familiar?
It turns out that this wine comes from the exact same producer as the $7.99 Aldi Specially Selected Uco Valley Malbec, which is also advertised as a single vineyard wine. That producer is Belhara Estate.
And while I’m sure both wines are indeed single vineyard, this is a very large producer (and vineyard) making wine for a number of big clients, including themselves. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does help explain the low price. Let’s check out how it tastes.
From the bottle:
These grapes were hand harvested from our Estate Vineyards of the Uco Valley, fermented in small concrete tanks and aged in French oak barrels.
The personality of our wines reflects the complexity of our aluvional terroir, composed of limestone plateau as well as calcareous white stone terraces.
Produced and Bottled by Belhara Estate
13.5% Alcohol
The 2021 Belhara Estate Malbec opens with an attractive aroma of plum, blackberry, black cherry and lots of varied spice notes.
Tasting the wine reveals it to be smooth, with lots of spicy fruit and other flavors similar to the nose. With good balance, decent complexity and an easy to drink nature, there are a lot of good things going on for just $9.
It ends with a dry, juicy, long and satisfying finish. It was even slightly better on day 2.
This one may cost a dollar more than the Aldi version, but we also liked it better so it’s definitely worth spending the extra buck.
As always you can find an updated list of our recommended wines from Trader Joe’s as well as more info on their pricing model and some tips and tricks for shopping the store in our giant guide.
You can also find more of our favorite Malbec here!
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