£7.49 on offer, Waitrose
This is Malbec with the succulent, ripe fruit typical of the grape variety in Argentina (all black cherry, plum and cassis), but freshened with cooler, savoury black pepper and black olive flavours that recall Malbec in its original French homeland of Cahors. It's a winning combination and a beautifully tailored wine, too, with a lot of finesse for a wine at this price level (talking of which, it's very good value at its full price and a bargain at the current offer).
Much of the secret lies in the estate's dramatically high, organic vineyards – 1200m –in the Alto Gualtallary Valley, an area of virgin territory when Jean Bousquet, a French winemaker and domaine owner, discovered it on a holiday in 1997. It's technically desert; so, having bought 400ha, he spent the next two years digging for water before he planted his first vines.
From the outset, he farmed organically, which few others were doing in Argentina at the time, gaining organic certification in 2001. Today, there are 270ha of vines and it's his daughter Anne and son-in-law Labid Al Ameri who own and run the estate.
What do you drink it with? Juicy steaks, beef casseroles, meaty ragùs, chunky sausages, slow-roast pork, barbecued vegetables and, of course, empanadas – beef, spicy chicken or vegetarian. If you don't want to make your own, I recommend Chango's, which were a revelation to me (I should add that they were gratis). 14%
Domaine Bousquet Finca Lalande Malbec 2020, Mendoza, Argentina
£7.49 on offer until 12 October, then full price £10.49, Waitrose
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