The 2010 Hacienda Del Plata Zagal Malbec is sourced from a single Estate vineyard, Las Marias Vineyard, located near the town of Chacras de Coria in the Lujan de Cuyo district of Mendoza, Argentina. Hacienda Del Playa is a small, family owned and operated winery and the New York Times named their 2004 Malbec as the best under $25 wine in the world. 40% of the wine is aged in American and French oak barrels with the remaining 60% aged in stainless steel tanks for 8 months. The wine is bottled and then aged for another 6 months before release. I found this wine selling for between $11 and $15 on the internet. The alcohol content is 13.4%.
The color is cherry red and it gets darker at the center. The nose is both creamy and smokey, red fruit, dark chocolate, caramel and smoke from the BBQ grill. This Malbec starts off smooth and slightly sweet and becomes bigger and fuller as it goes along. Black cherry leads thinks off and then extracted licorice and blackberry over a bed of vanilla creme kicks in, tart and full bodied. The mid palate adds a touch of spice and citrus zest. The tannins and the acidity are well balanced in the mix and the finish is full and long.
The Hacienda Del Plata Zagal Malbec is an excellent, well made Malbec. There are many good, flavorful, inexpensive Argentinian Malbecs on the market today. But there is a certain sameness to many of them, it is as if they were all cut from the same cloth, the Zagal Malbec is different, it has its own story to tell. This is a nice bottle of wine, worth of pairing with a good meal and sharing with good friends.
