2021 Marcelo Pelleriti Signature Malbec Uco Valley Mendoza 750 ml

“Find it.”

Back in 2022, James Suckling didn’t mince words in his review of Marcelo Pelleriti’s Signature Malbec. He wanted to make sure everyone who read it ended up with a bottle, which he called “one of the great values in South American wines.” 

Pelleriti’s Malbec challenges the best big reds of France and California, which makes sense: He’s also the 100-point force behind Bordeaux stars Château Le Gay and Château La Violette. One of the very few Argentine winemakers to earn a perfect score from Robert Parker, he’s making some of the most exciting wines in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The 2021 vintage is another stunner—one that landed on Suckling’s list of Top 100 Values of the year.

When we first got hold of a bottle of Pelleriti’s Malbec, we suspected we might have a winner on our hands, especially given his pedigree and the century-old vines. What we didn’t expect was a staggering Malbec that blended elements of Bordeaux winemaking with Mendoza’s expressive fruit. 

It was crafted by a vintner who calls Argentina home but earned 100 points from Robert Parker for his 2010 Château La Violette and 99 for his Château Le Gay from the same vintage. If top-tier Pomerol were made from Malbec, it would taste like this.

In other words, this is what happens when you give Pelleriti a vineyard of old, gnarled Malbec vines planted almost 117 years ago in the cool, high-altitude Uco Valley in Mendoza. The vines’ roots have had generations to dig deep into the rocky soils, and in the chilly, arid climate, they yield tiny grapes with intense concentration. That translates to a blockbuster wine.