Great Value Wines: 10 Argentine Malbecs for Under $25

We have been preaching the gospel of fresh and expressive Argentine reds from 2021 and 2022 in our recent reportage on the country, with plenty of unique and formidable malbecs among them. But because most wineries have not yet released their full range of 2022 offerings, we zero in here on great value malbecs from 2021 – a year many winemakers have referred to as a “dream vintage,” where they could harvest at their own pace after the warm, short and Covid-wracked 2020.

Malbec likes sunshine and dry climate, but it can also benefit from a cooler year as it gains aromatics, tension and purity from a longer growing season without overt density and fullness, delivering wines with more immediate appeal and linearity. Philippe Rolet, the managing director of Bodegas Caro in Mendoza, said 2021 was cool and humid, resulting in “one of the best vintages we have ever had” and comparing it to 2015, 2011 and 2007. His oak-free Bodegas CARO Malbec Mendoza Aruma 2021 shows the pristine fruit of high purity with floral perfumes and calculated tannins. It is all about fresh fruit, tension and drinkability.

Many other winemakers working in Argentina, including Jeff Mausbach and Paul Hobbs, gushed about 2021, calling it one of the best vintages in decades, which might sound like a stretch until you taste the wines ­– especially the entry and mid-level offerings from the most trustworthy producers in Mendoza, who all tend to speak the same language in highlighting innate fruit purity, precision and, sometimes, nervy mountain freshness.

The Terrazas de los Andes Malbec Mendoza High Altitude Vineyards Reserva 2021, for example, is one of the great values we found this year from Mendoza at the $20 price point. Like many of their single-parcel wines (such as the exciting Lican from Los Chacayes or the Espinillo from Gualtallary), it transmits engaging wild herbs, thyme, rosemary, fresh sour cherries and flowers to the nose with a linear and precise palate – the result of early picking. It’s a crunchier malbec with superb freshness, finesse and drinkability, and best of all, it won’t break the bank.

As Terrazas de los Andes founder Herve Birnie-Scott told us, “Argentina today can deliver much more than just generic, big and sweet malbecs.” And this ongoing stylistic shift from heavy, ultra-ripe fruit bombs to precise, finer and fresher offerings is taking place at all price points, including in wines that retail for under $25 a bottle, like those we have listed below.

– Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor