Reviews & Ratings

2009 Steven Kent Malbec "Ghielmetti Vineyard"

Winery: Steven Kent

Vintage: 2009

Wine Name/Vineyard: "Ghielmetti Vineyard"

Wine Category: Malbec

Grape blend: 100% Malbec

Bottle size: 750 ml

Region: Livermore Valley

State or country: CA

Price: $50

Cases produced: 98

KWG Score: 92 (based on 1 review)

Ken's Wine Rating: Very Good+ (92)

Review date: January 3, 2013

Wine Review: This opaque and midnight blue colored Malbec from California opens with a fragrant and inviting blueberry bouquet with hints of cherry cola. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, balanced, fruit forward and savory. The flavor profile is a very tasty blueberry and blackberry blend with hints of mild old oak and plum. The finish is dry and its flavors last for quite a while after the wine is gone. I would pair this very fruit Malbec with braised short ribs. Enjoy - Ken

Winemaker Notes: Malbec is the last of the classic Bordeaux varieties to enter our Small Lot Offering program. Malbec is a wine of immense interest. In the nose, this offering is laden with aromas of crushed dried black plum, blackberry, blueberry, and other less easily identifiable dark fruits. As the four barrels chosen for this offering were all new, there are beautiful notes of subtly sweet and warm toasted barrel notes up-front. Because Malbec fruit aromas and flavors tend to be exuberant (and they are in this offering), the new oak serves as an appropriate foundation note and counterpoint. In the mouth, the wine enters with viscosity and silkiness, but it is not long until the wine’s substantial tannins make themselves known…and felt. With aeration, (and even more so on the second day) all aspects (fruit and structure) open up to reveal a wine of great complexity and character. This phenomenon bodes well for the ageability of this offering.

Buy it: Use 1000 Corks to find stores that sell Steven Kent 2009 Ghielmetti Malbec.