WMD "Wines of Mass Deliciousness" Half Case
Versatile Party Whites Half Case
Ultimate 2009 Bordeaux Half Case
The Ultimate Rhône Explorer's Half Case
2009 Enrique Foster Raleo Malbec Half Case
Malbec • Argentina • Mendoza • Malbec
Tastes like: Black fruit, wood, spice
Pairs with: Mexican cuisine, hearty beef stew, braised or roasted lamb, mushroom-and-sausage pizza, grilled skirt steak
Good for: Everyday drinking
Drink this: Now through 2014
Alcohol: 14% read more...
Tastes like: Black fruit, wood, spice
Pairs with: Mexican cuisine, hearty beef stew, braised or roasted lamb, mushroom-and-sausage pizza, grilled skirt steak
Good for: Everyday drinking
Drink this: Now through 2014Read more...
Tastes like: Black fruit, wood, spice
Pairs with: Mexican cuisine, hearty beef stew, braised or roasted lamb, mushroom-and-sausageRead more...
Tastes like: Black fruit, wood, spice
Pairs with: Mexican cuisine, hearty beef stew, braised or roasted lamb, mushroom-and-sausage pizza, grilled skirt steak
Good for: Everyday drinking
Drink this: Now through 2014
Alcohol: 14%
6 x 2009 Enrique Foster Raleo Malbec
Enrique Foster is a legend in Mendoza. He specializes in making Malbec – and only Malbec – in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza's prize region for Argentina's signature grape, and he has worked diligently to let the variety shine.
Foster traveled the world studying winery design, and fell in love with gravity flow, whereby a winery is built to allow must and juices to flow naturally through the winemaking process (rather than by pumping), which many believe results in fresher wines. Upon his return to Argentina, he built the country's first gravity-flow winery exclusively for Malbec, and has a massive underground cavern for barrel aging that's inspired by Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, among others.
Foster's exacting attention to detail has been rewarded. His old-vine Malbecs are regularly lauded by Robert Parker and Stephen Tanzer with big scores, and they have hefty price tags ($75-plus) to match; the wines are snapped up so fast that they're almost impossible to find in the United States.
Today's offer, Foster's cuvée for everyday drinking, is stellar in its class, and is not usually available in the States. Sixty percent of the wine matures and rounds out in oak for nine months, while the remaining wine is unoaked to emphasize fruit flavors. The finished wine is aged for nine months in bottle in underground cellars, and the result is a red with amazing finesse, depth and complexity for an incredibly reasonable price.
Tasting Note
This is a dark, ruby-colored wine with purple highlights. On the nose, floral notes of lilac and deep red roses are melded with black fruits and a touch of herbs and spice. The palate starts off rich and velvety, with copious black fruit and layered wood and spice notes. This red has a definitive savory quality and classically firm Malbec mouthfeel and texture, leading up to the long finish. Enjoy this with Mexican cuisine or red-meat dishes such as hearty beef stew, braised or roasted lamb, mushroom-and-sausage pizza or grilled skirt steak. Drink this now through 2014.
Rodolphe Boulanger grew up around wine thanks to his French father and wine-collecting American grandfather. He has more than 10 years experience in wine import, distribution and retail. Most recently, he was President of The Wine Messenger, a catalog and Internet specialty wine retailer, for six years. Rodolphe earned a Diploma with Merit from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust®, is a Certified Wine Educator and is a candidate for the Master of Wine, which only 30 Americans hold. Learn more about Rodolphe here, or follow him on Twitter: @RoBoulanger
More About the Winery
"Intrigued by the concept of gravity flow, we went to California to study several winery construction projects and became convinced that the extra cost of a gravity flow facility would be more than offset by the superior quality of the wine resulting from the elimination of pumping the wine from each stage to the next. To achieve gravity flow on the flat terrain of central Mendoza, we built a movable overhead I-beam crane, which could lift the crushed grapes up and over the fermentation tanks, a deep cellar for the barrels, and a multi-stage freight elevator to raise the aged wine above the blending tanks and bottling equipment. In order to fit this equipment into the traditional Mendoza winery design of three equal naves, we raised the roof of the central nave, creating the profile of a church ‒ entirely appropriate for the worship of the grape. We ordered custom-designed French stainless steel fermentation tanks, selection tables, destemmer/crusher and press from Constructions Soudees du Coteau and Vaslin-Boucher."
—Bodega Enrique Foster website
Availability
This product ships to the following states:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Wyoming
