Last year my red Week M (2014) was a single varietal Malbec that I imported personally from Argentina. That may sound rather grand and imply that I had gone into the wine trade in a big way, however, sadly, that is not true. It was a single varietal and also a single bottle because that's all I could fit in my suitcase, wrapped up in two weeks' worth of dirty washing.
It was lovely, but it was also ~£20 a bottle, without UK duty. So this week I have paid half the price, including the UK duty, and selected another Malbec only this time blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, to see how close it comes to the quality of the earlier choice.
Week T (2015) Tupungato Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon, 2014. M&S £9.00
First off, Mr Marks and Mr Spencer have considerably more buying power than Mr Me and can strike a good bargain with suppliers, so that probably accounts for some of the price difference, but another significant influence on price is, I suspect, the volume produced.
The earlier wine had come straight from the cellar door, so there were no distribution costs incurred by the producer, but having toured the premises immediately before parting with my pesos I very much doubt that a bulk deal with a major UK importer aligns well with the business strategy of the family run concern that produces it.
I don't know that this week's wine is necessarily produced in high volumes, but it is bottled at Bodegas Esmeralda, one of Argentina's major exporters and I would guess they can respond well to international demand as a matter of course.
So, the wine. Rich ruby red, full of up-front blackberry fruit and supported with fine tannins and a good dollop of smooth oak. It is around 13.5% abv, which is 1% less than the earlier wine, and has a long, satisfying finish.
It is certainly a good wine of its type and if you are looking for a warm, full bodied red wine with more bite than many an easy drinking wine then you could do far worse than spend less than a tenner on this.
Would I prefer to have more bottles of the Clos de Chacras Gran Estirpe? Well, yes, I would, but that may be at least in part to the memory of having accompanied my only previous bottle on four flights with it nestling in my underwear.
It was lovely, but it was also ~£20 a bottle, without UK duty. So this week I have paid half the price, including the UK duty, and selected another Malbec only this time blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, to see how close it comes to the quality of the earlier choice.
Week T (2015) Tupungato Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon, 2014. M&S £9.00First off, Mr Marks and Mr Spencer have considerably more buying power than Mr Me and can strike a good bargain with suppliers, so that probably accounts for some of the price difference, but another significant influence on price is, I suspect, the volume produced.
The earlier wine had come straight from the cellar door, so there were no distribution costs incurred by the producer, but having toured the premises immediately before parting with my pesos I very much doubt that a bulk deal with a major UK importer aligns well with the business strategy of the family run concern that produces it.
I don't know that this week's wine is necessarily produced in high volumes, but it is bottled at Bodegas Esmeralda, one of Argentina's major exporters and I would guess they can respond well to international demand as a matter of course.
So, the wine. Rich ruby red, full of up-front blackberry fruit and supported with fine tannins and a good dollop of smooth oak. It is around 13.5% abv, which is 1% less than the earlier wine, and has a long, satisfying finish.
It is certainly a good wine of its type and if you are looking for a warm, full bodied red wine with more bite than many an easy drinking wine then you could do far worse than spend less than a tenner on this.
Would I prefer to have more bottles of the Clos de Chacras Gran Estirpe? Well, yes, I would, but that may be at least in part to the memory of having accompanied my only previous bottle on four flights with it nestling in my underwear.
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