2017 Pascual Toso Reserva Malbec Barrancas Vineyards Mendoza Argentina 750 ml

At James Suckling’s Great Wines of the Andes event, held this past September at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Club, the line to taste Pascual Toso’s revelatory Malbecs was a mile long...and full of somms. The buzz about these deep-fruited offerings with the seductive, rounded polish of a Right Bank Bordeaux (at a fraction of the cost) had even the coolest somms sweating over an allocation. And us? We were on the other side of the room, seated at the bar, comfortably sipping a German Pilsner. 

After the 2016 vintage of Reserva Malbec sold out almost immediately, becoming an instant Wine Access member favorite, we locked in our allocation well ahead of time, knowing that the early praise from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and James Suckling would only feed the sommelier frenzy. Parker’s publication praised the 2017 as “really impressive,” “elegant and balanced,” showing the “hand of a skilled winemaker,” who is, of course, Paul Hobbs, the 100-point Opus One alumnus. 

So we got our bid in early, and we’re glad we did: The entire production of the Reserva Malbec has been snapped up, and these are the first and last bottles that will appear on Wine Access this year. With a 24% discount and a razor-sharp $19 price tag, this shouldn’t be a tough call. 

Our first clue that something special was happening in vineyards below the snow-capped peaks of Mendoza came years ago when we witnessed the calicatas, or test pits, dug up between the rows. At the bottom of one excavation, you might find exposed granite; just a few yards away, a hole bottoms out in dense clay. These local pits, we were told, marked a renaissance in the region’s winemaking, signaling a desire to uncover, understand, and capture the nuances of terroir even among value-priced producers.

Enologists are now taking advantage of the extreme geological diversity and complexity that lies beneath the topsoil, leading to incredibly sophisticated expressions of Malbec. This new generation of site-transparent Malbecs distills everything we love about South American wine—and they can still be had for a song.

Many of the top expressions hail from Las Barrancas in Maipú, where Pascual Toso’s best vineyards are located. What’s unique here is a slightly lower altitude in Mendoza, making for a softer-structured, plush wine that pairs like a dream with grilled lamb and beef. Warm temperatures and hot sunlight virtually guarantee perfect levels of ripeness for the grape, while westerly winds, along with steeply dropping temperatures at night, keep things fresh and cool.

The Malbec Reserva is made entirely from estate-grown fruit in Las Barrancas, and sees a premium treatment in the cellar, aged for a year in new oak, 20% French and 80% American. Layered on top of the ripe, bold fruit, all the spice and rich oak give this wine an almost unfair edge on the competition, a mix of black fruit, wood, and spice that is so easy to drink and a luscious dinner pairing.

Back at the bar at the Golden Gate Club, we were dreaming of just such a dinner, but for the moment we were content to sip our Pilsners, give our weary palates a break, and watch the circus at Pascual Toso’s from afar. We’re happy to report that for as long as our cases last, you too can skip the line for one of Argentina’s most crowd-pleasing, blue-chip Malbecs. Enjoy.