Staying at the home of friends recently, we fended for ourselves one evening, making dinner of yesterday’s pork roast and some sweet heirloom tomatoes. We noticed a bottle of red in the refrigerator and poured a glass with dinner.
The wine was light and fragrant, showing generous blackberry and plum fruit with a nice undertone of freshly turned earth and a hint of espresso to make things interesting. Its best element was its light texture, perfect for the pork and tomatoes, and unusual for Argentine Malbec these days. So many Malbecs strive to be big and rich, but the Bodegas y Viñedos Santiago Graffigna's 2006 San Juan Centenario felt restrained and easygoing. The Graffigna (still slightly chilled) was worth 85 points, non-blind, to me. At $12, that makes it a fine value.
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