I don’t need to tell you that in recent years Malbec has catapulted from playing a cameo to a full-blown leading role. The grape’s history as primarily a blending grape is long overshadowed by the excellent wines coming from Argentina, particularly in the Mendoza region. In fact, Malbec has sort of become synonymous with Argentina; think Malbec and one immediately associates the grape with the South American country – and that is great for the local industry and for marketing those wines.
The Becker Vineyards 2007 Malbec is a really well-made wine at an affordable price. It tastes like many Argentine Malbecs (more on that later) with flavors reminiscent of coffee, chocolate, and peppery spice. This is definitely a go-to wine as the weather gets cooler and pairs exceptionally well with grilled meats, stews, game, or hearty sauces.
What is interesting about this wine aside from the complexity and the beautiful label is that on the back label are the words, “For Sale in Texas Only.” Now what on earth does that mean you ask? Well, it means that this particular wine does not have enough grapes from Texas to have an appellation listed on the label. Now I am definitely not the first person to write about this topic, but I think it is an important point to clarify for consumers. The fact is that this wine could be made from imported grapes, juice, or even wine – or some combination thereof. So while this wine was “made” by Becker – and aged one year in new American oak barrels at the vineyards – the provenance of the grapes is unclear. There is a chance that it tastes reminiscent of Argentine Malbec because it is, in fact, made from grapes grown in Argentina.
One of the critical issues facing the Texas wine industry is that there simply is not enough grapes or planted acreage to meet the needs of the 200+ wineries. The rocket-fueled growth that we’ve seen over the last decade has shifted the supply and demand scale forcing wineries to look elsewhere for grapes. Hopefully in the future there will be new acreage planted so that quality grape-producing areas can grow commensurately along with the wineries that harvest from them.
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