(4.5 / 5)
ZaHa Malbec 2010
Oh boy, is this stuff good. One of my new Twitter friends, @Pampallugas, was drinking ZaHa this afternoon and suggested I give it a try. It was $39 at our local Hop City (which has an epic assortment of South American wines – you’ll see that post shortly.)
This is a malbec-dominant blend. 90% Malbec, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Verdot. (Can you really taste 2% of anything???)
It’s grown in a region of Mendoza I’m not familiar with called San Carlos.
The winemakers who created ZaHa are Jeff Mausbach and Alejandro Sejanovich, two longtime employees of Catena Zapata who broke away and started their own venture. They have an even higher-end wine called TeHo (around $70.) Strange names, and I must admit I bypassed them on the wine aisle a couple of times.
Big mistake. This wine is absolutely delicious. I am hard-pressed to name a more elegant and substantial wine for $39.
Jay Miller of Wine Advocate gave it a 92, and I think it might be even better than that number suggests. It may lack the complexity of a true $100 trophy wine from Argentina, but it has great weight, a nice finish and it just plain tastes wonderful.
Honestly, with Catena Alta starting to elevate from the $39 range to more like $43, this is a truly delicious option when you want to stay under $40. And if you want to really stock up, Bedford Wine Merchants carries this for $35.99. At that price… it’s a steal.
I am officially on the ZaHa train, next destination: TeHo.