The 2010 Peirano Estate Vineyard Malbec is 100% Malbec sourced from a single, family owned Estate vineyard located in the Lodi AVA on the northern edge of California’s Central Valley. This is Peirano Estates 3rd Malbec bottling and the Malbec grapevines are 6 years old. It takes grapevines 2 or 3 years to mature to the point where the grapes are useable for making wine, so for the first few years, at harvest time the grapes are picked, then dropped to the ground to act as fertilizer. They fermented the grapes two different ways, rotary fermentation and tank fermentation, to bring out different characteristics in the grapes. The wine is aged for 12 months in, 20% new and 80% reused French and American oak barrels. There is a lot going on here for a single vineyard estate wine that should be found for well under $15. The alcohol content is 13.8%.
The color is almost black with strawberry red highlights. The nose is dark and brooding, stewed plums, figs. blackberry, with a little Christmas cookie spice and black Twizzlers. It starts off soft and smooth with blueberry and cassis, then some creamy vanilla and POM Wonderful juice kicks in. The mid palate adds a little exotic curry spice and some strawberry with whipped topping. The tannins are well balanced, and the acidity give the wine some length. The finish is soft mellow dark fruit and lasts for a respectable amount of time.
The Peirano Estate Vineyards Malbec gives you a whole lot of bells and whistles for your money. It reminds me of a cross between French Cahors Malbec and Argentinian Mendoza Malbec, it has the weight of Cahors along with the fruit of Mendoza. This wine was made from young vines, these vines are nowhere near their peak of producing nuanced, complex wines, which bodes well for the Peirano Estates Malbec, it is good now and it figures to only get even better.
