Tag: Argentina

Grape: 100% Malbec
Region: San Juan Province, Argentina

This is my first and only wine I recommend here that didn’t come from a bottle. Yeah, I am one of those wine snobs that would never touch wine that came from cardboard. Well, until I tried this one. Let me explain why I liked it and what makes it so different.

When you combine yellow and blue color, you will get a green. That’s how Yellow+Blue got it’s name. Not only is this wine organically grown – which means natural, no use of chemicals, pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Yellow+Blue wines are certified organic throughout the entire growing, winemaking and packaging process — from start to finish.

If you don’t care about that, you may be interested to know that it fits more wine and weights much less than a regular bottle of wine. Therefore it also saves you money. A lot of money. That’s why you can buy it cheaper.

I don’t believe that this is the end of wine in traditional bottles, that’s a nonsense. When I first saw Yellow+Blue, first thing I thought was: Oh no, I am not tasting this…. There was no way that something good can come out of box. But than I heard the story about the founder of this project and it started to make sense.

Matt Cain worked in wine industry for 15 years, almost a decade for renowned wine importer Kermitt Lynch (who specializes in French Burgundy and Bordeaux small production wines.) Kermitt devoted his life to fine wines. That’s why I realized that Matt’s palate is going to be as spoiled as mine:). When Matt moved on to his own business, he went on the mission to find the best quality wine for the best possible price.

First he located great quality wines in Argentina that were well cared for and organically grown. These wines were meant to be bottled – and with the price of glass, corks and transportation it wouldn’t be inexpensive Malbec. So he found a company that would create a packaging using a Tetra Pak. Tetra Pak is well known material holding fruit juices, broth and other produce that needs to be preserved fresh. They created a shape of box that saves space in shipping containers and fits 1L of wine (1 third more than a regular wine bottle).

As the company explains: A case of wine in glass weighs 40 pounds and holds 9 liters of wine — close to 50% wine and 50% packaging. A case of Yellow+Blue weighs 26 pounds and holds 12 liters of certified organic wine. That’s 93% wine and 7% packaging.

When you count all these things together, you get more great wine for much less money. I don’t think there is another product like that on the market, in such packaging, at that price. Vine was treated with the highest care, harvested by hand, underwent sorting process like any high quality wine does. Since the fermentation occurs in stainless steel,the quality of this Malbec speaks for itself, the fruit expression is amazing.

Tasting notes:
Strong aroma of fresh black berries with a touch of cocoa. This ruby colored Malbec gives you taste of dark fruit, a little bit of chocolate and raspberries on the palate. Solid full body with velvety tannins and good level of acidity. Long satisfying finish that is common for much pricier wines. Definitely a keeper. Still having issue with a wine “from the box”? Pour it over to your wine decanter. Nobody would be able to tell a difference. This is fantastic value!

Dry – Off dry – Medium sweet – Sweet
Light – Medium – Full body
No oak – Aged in oak
Organically grown
Retail price: under $ 13.00 per 1 L

Ideal food pairing:
grilled beef, barbecue, aged cheeses, roasted lamb with rosemary, pork roast or steak