The 2020 Infinito Malbec from Argentina greets you with one giant front label featuring a lonely, barren mountain that looks like the sort of place where goats go to contemplate life. Flip the bottle over and…nothing. No back label. No tasting notes. No history. No dramatic tale of a fifth-generation winemaker discovering himself among the vines.
Fortunately, the wine had much more to say than the bottle. First glass brought good, solid flavor with fairly strong puckeryishness—yes, that is the proper technical term until somebody convinces me otherwise. It dried the tongue nicely and finished with a pleasant bit of spice. Best of all, it wasn’t sweet. 2nd glass same as first. Good. One must never rely on first glass. Sometimes even 3rd glass is needed to make sure. This was a serious Malbec that seemed to be demanding a proper roast beast to accompany it. Unfortunately for the wine, I was in charge of dinner, so it received BBQ hot dogs instead. Life is full of compromises.
As it turns out, the pairing worked surprisingly well. The only real casualty of the evening was one of the hot dogs, which my aging dog managed to steal off the counter with the determination of a seasoned professional. The Malbec, however, remained safely in my glass where it belonged. At $7.99, this bottle delivers far more character than its minimalist label suggests. Next time, I may even reward it with an actual roast. Assuming the dog doesn’t beat me to it.
