Priced under $20, Terrazas de los Andes 2013 Reserva Malbec is my find of the week!

This inky, medium-bodied red wine offers a strong bouquet of violets and dark fruits that match on the palate with the added bonus of a tobacco finish. Point of note: the Malbec grape is one of the original 5 Bordeaux grapes that have since dwindled on French soil. France’s loss is Argentina’s gain. In fact, this winery uses ungrafted Malbec vines that were planted in 1929. The vines grow over 1,000 meters above sea level.

As an investment wine, Malbec is known for its ability to bottle age, but I wouldn’t know. Although I savored this bottle over the course of a week, it was opened and emptied without a thought of storage. I’ll be on the lookout for more of Terrazas, which is one of the top 25 Argentinian Malbec wines in the U.S., best served with spicy beef, lamb and poultry.

The higher priced wine I recently tasted: a 2015 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (just under $30) did not thrill me as much as the Malbec. Sauvignon Blanc, or “the wild white” is a staple wine of New Zealand, but this Marlborough version was a bit too sweet for my taste. Perhaps I don’t care for the wet granite sensation mixed with wet freshly mown grass. Maybe this would have tasted better paired with a plate of green olives. I would try it again, but this round left me clouded.