One of the things I look for in a wine brand is consistency. I expect there will be some minor variations in a wine from one vintage to the next, but when a producer puts out a wine of similar quality vintage after vintage I know what to expect. And when that wine is consistently good, it becomes an easy “go to” wine.
As I was going through my old tasting notes I found that I had notes from two past vintages of Trivento Reserve Malbec and I just tasted the current vintage. What I found when looking across the notes is that the wine is fairly consistent from one year to the next and I scored it slightly higher each vintage (a good trend).
While it’s not a total “knock your socks off” wine, it’s very good and it’s only $11, which makes it even better. Here are my notes for the latest three vintages of this malbec.
Trivento Reserve Malbec 2010
Black cherry, blackberry cinnamon and vanilla with moderate intensity make for a pleasant nose. In the mouth this wine is bursting with ripe black cherry and black raspberry flavors. It has a nice mouthfeel with moderate tannins and good acidity. The oak flavors are a touch heavy on the finish, but overall it’s still good. Rating: 85
Trivento Reserve Malbec 2011
Black cherry, clove and allspice aromas give this wine a spicy nose that’s well balanced and intriguing. The palate is brimming with black cherry, blueberry and plum flavors. It has good acidity and tannins too. The finish is a little on the short side, but it’s pleasant and offers some light vanilla and black cherry flavors that linger a bit. Rating: 86
Trivento Reserve Malbec 2012
Chocolate covered black cherry aromas lead the nose on this wine, it’s backed up by cinnamon and allspice. The mouthfeel is fantastic, with smooth tannins and perfect acidity. It offers flavors such as black cherry, blackberry and blueberry and they are juicy! By that I mean there’s a touch of sweetness like you would get from ripe fruit and the flavors are concentrated. This is the best vintage I’ve tasted of this wine. Rating: 87
Wine: Trivento Reserve Malbec
Variety: Malbec
Vintage: 2012
Alcohol: 14%
Rating: 87
Price: $11.00
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.
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I can’t wait to taste the 2013 vintage.
Is there a Malbec with no blackberry? Any other fruit okay.
Hi Lonn. I tend to find a lot of malbec with a strong black cherry characteristic. But yes, blackberry is quite common too.