Wines of the week: Seven Argentine bottles for World Malbec Day

Thinly veiled marketing plot though it may be, it’s certainly a good excuse to put the spotlight on this iteration of the Bordeaux blend grape, which in South America takes centre stage

Growing at altitude imparts a freshness, and of course, these reds pair well with those other local specialities: steak and roast beef

World Malbec Day, on Tuesday, is not, contrarily, designed to celebrate Malbec in its various forms across the world. This column did that anyway a few weeks ago. Nope, it was designed solely to promote the wines.

This is the Argentine version, which is where the slightly neglected Bordeaux blend grape was rejuvenated and revived only in the last 25 or so years. Argentina now has the biggest plantings of malbec in the world, with the best wines made from grapes grown at high altitude in the Mendoza region, giving the freshness and vivacity, coupled with juicy, brambly black fruits and hints of tar and chocolate that make these wines so appealing and approachable, particularly when drunk with relatively little ageing.

This is unlike, say the heavier, more tannic versions of the wine in south-west France, where it is known as cot and where it can take years of bottle ageing for the tannins to soften and the flavours to express themselves.

What is also praiseworthy about Argentine malbec is the high quality at a low price and the overall reliability: indifferent wines seem rare. It is simply fortuitous that malbec partners wonderfully with rare steak and roast beef, since that is also an Argentine speciality, as well as other roasted and barbecued meats – although its freshness makes them fine with less, er, bloody, fare.

I’m not quite sure that the widely available Trivento Reserve Malbec (£6.50; normally £8.00 until April 17; Ocado.com; £8.00 Morrisons.com, Tesco.com) is, as it was marketed last summer, “Britain’s Official Barbecue Wine”, but it’s certainly a perfectly decent little juicy guzzler and fine if you are not having a barbecue yet this year; it will do just nicely for a pizza or pasta.

If I’m having a decent rump steak, maybe on a Friday night with Netflix, I might opt for the Dominio Del Plata Terroir Series Malbec 2015 (£12.50 Marksandspencer.com) from the Uco Valley in Mendoza, which is medium to full bodied, vibrant, with flavours of blueberries, chocolate and hints of mint, and is a fairly pure expression of what Argentine malbec is all about. Or go for the somewhat weightier and spicier, oak-aged Renacer Punto Final Malbec Clasico 2017 ( £10.50 Winedirect.co.uk; £11.99 Haywines.co.uk).

Moving up a price point as well as altitude, the vines in the Calchaqui Valley are said to be among the highest grown in the world, and the Amalaya Gran Corte 2015 (£13.49 Rannochscott.co.uk; £15.99 Brookandvine.co.uk ) is the richest, spiciest, most fruit-forward and yet most elegant wine so far; the complexity deriving from the addition of bonarda and cabernet franc, showing that malbec can work as the dominant, rather than subsidiary partner in a blend.

In a similar vein is the gorgeously attractive and sumptous Doña Paula, Estate, Mendoza, Blue Edition Velvet Blend 2016 (£11.75 Allaboutwine.co.uk; £12.12 Corkingwines.co.uk; minimum order six bottles for both) where the fresh cherry fruits of pinot noir, as well as bonarda, are added to the mix. The slightly sweeter touch makes it a good match for a leg of lamb.

At these price levels, Malbec delivers wines of straightforward quality, a good combination of heft, succulent accessibility and great value for money. But if you really want to push the boat out for that special occasion, rib of beef or kobe steak moment, try the award winning Salentein Primus Malbec (£44.55 Wineon-line.co.uk; £47.57 easywineshop.co.uk): low yield, high-altitude vines, oak ageing, rich black fruits, tar and spice; delivering all the intensity, power and complexity you could want.

Finally, just to show the French that malbec has even more potential that perhaps they ever realised, there is the fortified, port-like Familia Zuccardi Malamado Malbec (£15.99 Virginwines.co.uk) packed with flavours of raisins, figs and sweet spices, which is ideal for desserts, particularly with chocolate, or with blue and hard cheeses. Just what you need after all that red meat.