Jeff’s Corner

Everyone’s darling favorite, or favorite darling, is back. The 2018 Rose of Malbec has been released, and is in almost every employee’s glass after work these days. The 2017 stole the show all summer long last year, was often our best selling wine, and sold out quickly. We nearly doubled our production this year, so buy it up and drink it up!

 Before we talk about this near perfect picnic wine, however, I’d like to drift back 8 years ago or so to one of my first training sessions with the staff where I referred to our Cabernet Blanc as our sweet blush wine. Jason was there, and I got a firm spanking when he pointed out that our Cab Blanc was a rose and not a blush.

He firmly noted that a true rose is made from a red grape with a short period of contact between the juice and skins (maybe 24 hours) during fermentation to extract just a bit of color. A wine labeled blush, however, was simply a sweet white wine with a little red wine added to give it some color and make it “blush”.

When I was teaching, I had a question on a test that read, “What makes a blush wine blush”? One of my students didn’t have a clue, but I think earned a point for creativity when she answered “Talk dirty to it”.

Anyway, onward to the 2018 Rose of Malbec. This is the third vintage of this wine, and it already has a secret cult following. This is a fun, social quaffer perfect for spring and summer late afternoons and early evenings.

The color is a vibrant, classic rose with brilliant clarity. The aromas are enticingly fresh, with bushels of sweet strawberry, cherry, and watermelon singing harmony with pink carnations and passion flowers. My favorite aroma reminds me of the bubble gum in a pack of Topp’s baseball cards from the 50’s and 60’s.

The palate is clean and bright, with brisk acidity accenting the fresh, youthful expressions of fruit. Here we have another lovely GCV wine showing great balance with an enticing, delicate finish.

To me, serving temp is important with this wine, maybe between 43-50*. It will be more crisp at a colder temp, more fruity at a higher one. Let’s try this with some grilled k-bobs skewered with shrimp, scallops, pineapple, red grapes, and kiwi marinated in a fruity vinaigrette. Do not overcook!