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The Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 is $10.99 at Costco and $14 to $29 elsewhere. This wine is a blend of 60% Malbec, 30% Pinot Noir, and 10% Bonarda sourced from the Doña Paula Estate El Alto Vineyard (3,445 feet up in the Andes foothills of the Ugarteche sub-region of the Luján de Cuyo inside the Mendoza Wine region of Argentina.
The Doña Paula winery specializes in Malbec wine and all their wines are estate grown and produced. The Bonarda grape is an obscure French grape, there is a Bonarda grape from Italy that is unrelated to the Argentinean grape. Pinot Noir can be a silky wine, and Bonarda can be smooth, but I never thought of Malbec as silky. This red blend looks like it received no oak aging, which would contribute to a spicey nature, so unoaked Malbec may be silky.
The grapes of Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 are handpicked (March 2021). The grapes underwent maceration before fermentation. Maceration is where the grape skins are soaked in grape juice, this allows all the color, tannins, and flavors to be extracted from the grapes.
This is a Red blend from a single sustainably farmed vineyard, using a unique blend of grapes. This Red blend received 92 points from James Suckling. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 Tasting Notes
The color is very dark red from some angles it almost looks black. The nose is dark and smokey, and there is blackberry, ripe cherry, a meaty grilling aroma, herbs, soft spice, plum, and strawberry. The Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 is indeed silky smooth on the palate, with dark brooding flavors.
This Red Blend tastes like black cherry, raspberry jam (not sweet), blackberry, tea, herbs, and plum. The mid-palate shows a slap of spice, the tannins give a slight pull, just enough to add needed structure, slightly sour cranberry, orange zest, and tart cherry.
The acidity is well-balanced and holds the flavors together.
The Summary
- The Doña Paula Estate Blue Edition Velvet Red Blend 2021 is the perfect Red blend for sipping while sitting around the fire pit on a cool Fall night.
- I am not sure about pairing suggestions, the usual comfort food, burgers, burritos, tacos, and pizza would work, but I think this is better used as a sipping wine.
- Give it a try, it is extremely tasty and you will not find too many other Malbec, Pinot Noir, and Bonarda blends on the store shelves.
