The bottle is taller than most, and the label is a sophisticated deep purple with an etched silver logo of a framed image of the mountains in Mendoza, Argentina. Script letters spell out “Reserva” and you know it’s got to be good. This is a bottle of Don Miguel Gascon 2011 Reserva Malbec. Although it is priced at $25, you could probably find a bottle for $19, according to my Vivino app, that is.

I love the Vivino app that automatically rates wines simply from a picture you take of the label using your iPhone. This reserve malbec received a 3.8 star rating out of 5, and some of the review comments included:

– dry with light fruit afternote

– ripe flavorful fruits upfront with a dark chocolate finish. Easy drinking malbec.

– Very fruity

I agree with the fact that this is an easy drinking malbec (with 3% petit verdot), as you don’t need to drink it with food. It’s a good standalone. Globally, this wine ranked 304,417 out of 1,963,762 in the Vivino rating, with a high ranking of its winery, wine region and country. It notes food pairings of beef, spicy food, mature and hard cheese and poultry.

Another wine I tried was the Don Miguel Gascon 2012 malbec ($15), which is 100% malbec grapes from Mendoza, and intense with aromas of dark berry, plum and maybe even some mocha. Taste-wise, you can feel some spice, licorice and chocolate leading to a delightful long, velvet finish.

Go Garcon!