Ricardo Santos is the former owner of the Norton Winery and thirty-some years ago he was the first wine producer in Argentina to export Malbec. Unless you’re new to wine or have been living under a rock you know that now Argentine wine is almost synonymous with Malbec.
Given Santos’ history with Malbec, I was really excited to taste this wine. What I found was not a typical Argentine Malbec. It was much more earthy and not as “big” as a lot of other Malbec. We usually taste blind, so in full disclosure I’ll have to say that I didn’t taste this one blind.
There is not as much intensity on the nose as I was hoping for, but it opens up after a while. I am surprised at how strong the alcohol fumes are, given that it’s just 13.9% abv. That’s not really a low alcohol level, but the fumes would suggest a higher level. Fruit is not dominant on the nose, giving way instead to coffee, smoky cedar and soy sauce. There’s a little fruit, but it’s restrained. On the palate, the fruit comes to life a bit more with blackberry and black currant flavors. There’s a touch of chocolate on the mid palate and sour cherry on the finish. In a way, it tastes under ripe to me. It’s a decent Malbec, but not a big-juicy-ripe-fruit one.
Wine: Ricardo Santos
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2008
Alcohol: 13.9%
Rating: 84
Price: $19.00
Find Ricardo Santos Malbec with Snooth
Disclosure: This wine was received as a sample.