Patagonian Malbec a Wine Unto Itself - Chalten Reserva from Neuquen, Argentina

I have been enjoying Malbec for years, decades perhaps, I've tasted many, but the Malbecs from Patogonia, a wine I discovered this past June in Buenos Aires, are the Malbecs I love the best.

This rugged mountainous region of Argentina is lush nature at her most almighty and the wine reflects this.The name, Patagonia, comes from Patgon the word used by Magellan in 1520 to describe the native people who he thought to be giants. Also remember the region inspired whole line of explorer clothing and gear and an international chain of stores, Patagonia.

Finding Pantagoina Malbecs in New Jersey has been a challenge. To my delight I found this one called Chalten and others from Patagonia at recent trip to the Total Wine store in River Edge.

We enjoyed it tremendously with a dinner I made with a Latin bent.

The main dish was from the March Bon Appetite spread called "Modern Comforts," it is a new twist on baked beans and frankfurters, Chorizo and Gigante Bean Cassoulet. A fabulous recipe that is not hard to make. Along with this I invented a concoction of fresh sliced carrots and shallots that I sauteed in butter, then added frozen sweet peas and paprika, cumin, chili pepper, cinnamon and allspice. I was king of the kitchen that night.

More to know about the region and the wine, the Tehuelche people were the original inhabitants of this region. The name is a Mapudungun word meaning "Fierce People." There is a legend that first explorer to discover El Chalten arrived on the back of a swan.

"The name Chalten means "smoking mountain" in the language of the nomadic people who used to live here until the 1900s. The "smoke" refers to the plume cloud that usually is seen at the top of the Fitz Roy peak, which the Tehuelche considered sacred." Transient Lives

With the mountains there are fertile lands where people like Burgundian winemaker Pascal Marchand has been working with local people on "site-specific, non-interventionist, organic-style viticulture aiming for low yields and artisanally made wines." Martin Scott Wines one such wine is this Chalten Malbec Riserva.

The wine has intense flavors of vanilla and blackberry. It is full-bodied with most of the flavors in the mid range like a very good Merlot. It is ruby red in color and intense yet soft on the palate, well structured with a smooth long, lingering finish.

The wine is produced by Bodegas Universo Austral which was "founded with the conviction of making wines with sublime aromas and flavors and is now part of the prominent and critically acclaimed Dos Andes Wine Group.

They are "proud to announce that our Chaltén, MALBEC Gran Reserva 2008, obtained Silver Medal in the competition Selections Mondiales des Vins Canada 2010!!!"