2005 Bodega Weinert "Carrascal" Red Lujan de Cuyo

This is perhaps the most traditionally made red wine in Argentina. It's awesome, I love it, our staff loves it, and I suspect many of you looking for something different from Argentina might love it as well. A blend of 45% Malbec, 35% Merlot and 20% Cabernet, this is a savory, red fruited wine, more reminiscent of the South of France than south of the equator. It has lovely cherry and roasted meat flavors, with an excellent sense of individuality and style. Aged in a combination of concrete tank and used Nevers oak, kept underground to control the temperature, this is a distinctive wine that's seriously out of step with what's going on in Mendoza right now. Brown bag it, pour a taste for one of your Francophile friends, and enjoy watching them attempt a guess at which French appellation its from; you'll know better. (Joe Manekin, K&L South American wine buyer) 90 points and a Best Buy, Wine Enthusiast: "One of the best $15 red blends being made today. Carrascal gives us 45% Malbec, 35% Merlot and 20% Cabernet is rock-solid form. The nose has toast, mineral, balsam wood and good berry fruit, and the palate provides the troika of cherry, raspberry and plum with no interference or oaky gimmicks. Pleasant, warm and long on the finish." (08/09)