Alamos: Among the best from Argentina

We often write that what we are looking for is a five dollar wine that tastes like a fifty dollar wine as we are, very price conscious. We are always looking for quality wines at reasonable prices about which to report to our readers.
Alamos is a producer of quality wines in Mendoza province, the wine basket of Argentina, where they own some of the best vineyards in that district. Their wines are very affordable and offer excellent quality for the money. We recently tasted their latest releases and were very much impressed by two, and totally surprised by another.

Alamos 2010 Red Blend ($13). The winemakers have blended an Argentine fruit basket into a really fine wine. Starting with malbec (what else would you expect from Argentinean winemakers) they created a new wine as indicative of the Argentinean character as are the Gauchos, the Pampas and Patagonia. This new wine is a blend combining malbec with tempranillo and bonarda. Bonarda is a grape variety which was formerly, before malbec, the most widely planted grape in Argentina and used mostly for table wines, but was also capable of producing a quality wine when properly handled. The combination of these grapes resulted in a delightful, full flavored wine that has a good bit of character. The aroma displays dark red summer fruits, vanilla and spice. The flavor is a kaleidoscope of all of the red fruits you can imagine with cherries and plum being the most obvious. These flavors carry through to the long and intensely fruity finish. The wine is very soft and easy to enjoy and pairs with many of our modern meat and poultry dishes. This variety can prove to be an excellent choice when one tires of the “usual” fare and offers a chance to delve into the world of insightful blending.

Alamos 2010 Chardonnay ($13). Chardonnay is the most popular white wine in the world, and deservedly so. It can take many forms and styles and is capable of pleasing almost any palate. The Alamos 2010 Chardonnay has its flavor and aroma mid way between the California style of presenting the tropical fruit possibilities of the grape and the French style which is more subdued and accents the apple and pear. A light and attractive golden color announces the prominent aromas of pineapple, citrus, melon and vanilla. These aromas continue right through to the flavor where they are joined by pear and a hint of butterscotch in the background. Here too the finish is long, complex and full of fruit. While bashing chardonnay wines has become a favorite pastime of wine writers, this wine can and will stand up to even the most critical examination. Regardless of the price, this is a fine wine, and a lot finer than many selling for three and four times their price.

Alamos 2010 Seleccion Malbec ($20). Here was the surprise; an Argentinean malbec selling for somewhat above the price that one would expect for most of the others of the same variety. When in the hands of inexperienced winemakers, malbec rarely shines, however, in the hands of Alamos, it absolutely glows. The deep violet color alone tells you that you are in for something different; and you will not be disappointed. The wine has a heavy body and is alive with the aromas of plum and spice, with coffee and vanilla dancing in the background. The flavor stresses pomegranates and cranberries with vanilla and oak in dignified amounts in the background. The finish is among the best and longest that we have ever tasted stressing almost every dark summer fruit you can think of and with a hint, of all things honey. Here is an excellent and very well made red wine that can accompany any meat dishes as well as many of the Italian or Spanish dishes. The Alamos 2010 Malbec Seleccion is an interesting sidestep from the traditional red wines and is a wine we feel that you should become acquainted with.