Today is World Malbec Day and it’s easy to join the celebration because I’m a fan!

I’ve been recommending Malbec to beginning wine drinkers since I started writing about wine four years ago. Malbec is generally easy to drink, rich, nicely balanced, and affordable.

The Trivento Golden Reserve 2008 Malbec is one darn nice glass of wine. This wine is inky dark, with a wonderful nose and a nice rich body on the palate.

I had the wine with two pork chops I braised then baked. One chop had just salt and pepper while the other had a dry rub and sweet BBQ sauce. The Malbec was a wonderful pairing. Many people think of malbec for grilled meats and big beef dishes, but I think the wonderful silkiness of good Malbec is a great date with a moderately seasoned piece of pork.

This wine gives you dark berries, plum, maybe some chocolate, and plenty of earthy tones. In other words, it’s my kind of wine.

The tannins are well balanced with a very nice lingering finish. The alcohol comes in at 14.5 percent. Robert Parker gave this wine 90 points.

This is a fine bottle of wine for the price point. The suggested retail is $21, but I received the bottle as a trade sample. There are a lot of great Malbecs around $13-$17. Here is one with a bit more richness than many for just a few more bucks. I’d highly recommend the Trivento Malbec.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com