RUTINI 2012 TRUMPETER MALBEC

“Here's to the corkscrew - a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly.” …. W.E.P. French
(From the wine list of Commander's Palace in New Orleans, LA 

I just enjoyed tasting Rutini’s “Encuentro” 2011 Malbec when a friend announced herself and I subsequently opened Rutini’s 2012 Trumpeter Malbec. (For more on Rutini’s history and their “Encuentro” wine, see previous post:

http://www.winemizer.net/2015/04/rutini-encuentro-2011-malbec.html

In the glass, Trumpetor is dark purple and offers a nose of sour cherry jam with allspice. With air and a little time, this evolved to blackberry and cherry salsa without the heat.  Taste was certainly not peppery or presented with any alcohol burn on the back palate.  In fact, the wine was fruit forward with blackberry, plum and hints of pencil shavings and bacon fat. As its higher priced (but still bargain respecting cousin “Encuentro”), Trumpetor is silky and lush in the mouth due to 100% malolactic fermentation.  Grapes are 100% estate grown and hand-harvested from Rutini’s Tupungato vineyard in the Uco Valley in Mendoza (Argentina).  The wine is 100% Malbec.

With each wine I taste and write about, I’m reminded of Pliny the Elder’s quote: “The best wine is that which tastes good to thine own palate.”  If “chewy” Cabernet Sauvignons or moisture-sucking Petite Sirahs are your style, you might not be enamored by this style of Malbec.  Rutini’s “Encuentro” Malbec might be more to your liking, though that too is “new world” in style albeit less fruity.

And with each wine I taste and write about, I better appreciate that the

world is bigger than me.  I was reminded of that again when my friend said she preferred the “Trumpeter.”  She enjoyed its softer, fruit-forward profile and simply that it was easy drinking and enjoyable.  Apparently, she has lots of company. Rutini’s Trumpeter has been Argentina’s “Best Buy” for over 15 years. With a suggested retail price of under $11, even I can appreciate that.

My instincts tell me that this is a crowd pleaser in a mixed group getting together for good times.   

Salud!

…………….. Jim

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TECH SPECS:

Varietal:                      100% Malbec

Vineyard:                     Tupungato, Mendoza

Malo:                           100%

Oak:                             30% new American

                                    30% new French

                                    40% 2^nd and 3^rd yr American

Aging                           7 months as per above

Alc:                              13.5%

Wine Maker:               Mariano Di Paola

Imported By:               Rutini Wines, Bridgeport PA

·         Sample provided by publicist for review.

RUTINI ENCUENTRO 2011 MALBEC

“Grapes are the most noble and challenging of fruits.”  ……. Malcolm Dunn, Head Gardener to the 7^th Viscount Powercourt, c 1867.

The old saw, “The only constant is change” is probably the only thing that hasn’t changed over the decades.  Malbec, originally from France, immediately triggers thoughts today, for example, of Argentina. Whether that’s because of a style preference or because this thin-skinned grape that demands even more heat and sun than Cabernet Sauvignon was devastated (75%) in 1956 by a frost in France, I don’t know.  It was planted in Argentina and has since become the country’s claim to wine fame, Mendoza being that country’s Napa.

Rutini wines predate all this however. The winery was started by Italian emigrant Filipe Rutini in 1885 (then called La Rural Winery) in the Uco Valley, Mendoza.  1994 saw change continuing as the winery (Rutini) underwent technological renovation under Nicolas Catena and Jose Benegas-Lynch (two major forces in the Argentine wine industry and from one of Mendoza’s oldest and most celebrated wine families) and Mariano DiPaola was appointed winemaker.

Today, Rutini has vineyards in five different areas of Mendoza: Maipu, Rivadavia, La Consulta, Altamira and Tupungato (where the grapes for Encuentro are grown).  By blending grapes from different vineyards within Tupungato, Rutini is able to take advantage of different vineyard elevations/terroirs in order to create the best expression of the varietal within the bottle.

In the glass, Encuentro shows as inky purple. The nose is complex with vanilla-caramel and cocoa powder with clove and violet.  I enjoyed hints of cooked fruit, especially plum that carried into the wine’s flavor along with violet, cassis and blackberry. Despite all this going on, I most appreciated the wine’s balance. While plum, blackberry and violet were distinct, they were not overpowering. The fruit was balanced against the wine’s tannic structure and the result was harmony in the glass. Encuentro is creamy on the palette (thanks to its 100% malolactic fermentation) and enjoys a moderate finish that is clean thanks to its fruit/acid balance.

Malbecs from Argentina have been and are, because of terroir, more fruit forward than those of France.  And I’ve made no secret over the years that I lean toward old world style wine.  But I genuinely appreciated the deft handling of fruit in the graceful manner that Encuentro offered. Another old saw goes like this: “If it grows together, it goes together.” Argentinians are well known for meals rich with grilled meat and sausages. And I can’t imagine a better pairing than Encuentro and grilled spicy sausages and beef, blue cheese and mushrooms.

“Encuentro” means “encounter.”  With a suggested retail price under $20, this is a wine that’s worth encountering, especially if you’re a fan of Argentinian Malbecs – or would like to encounter what it is about them that make them so popular.

Salud!

…………. Jim

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TECH SPECS:

Varietal:                                  Malbec, 100%

Vineyard:                                 Tupungato, Mendoza, Aregntina

Malolactic Fermentation:       100%

Aging:                                      50% new & 2^nd use French oak

                                                50% new American oak         

                                                12 Months

·         Bottle provided as sample by publicist.