Michel Torino Malbec Cuma

Seemed to be past it's peak, not much nose this time. Just a simple malbec.

on the nose there is a good dose of smoke, mineral, plum and cahors like rusticity. Very little oak influence here. Pure purple fruited palate with strong tannin, iron notes and more plum. Very taught and traditionally styled.

Similar experience to the previous tasting note - more interesting than expected - definite minerality on the finish and goodish length

rather restrained, savoury, clean dark fruit, with some minerality in the finish. definitely not your silky, oaky, velvety, crowd pleasing argentinian malbec and, in retrospect, makes it better for it.

For some reason, the price I pay is quite a bit more, like $17, so that might have something to do with me not being as impressed. To me, this wine is not really at the level of its peers. It is clean, with bright fruits. A solid bottle of wine that is easy to overlook given the general values found in Argentina.

Picked up 2 bottles of this for $10.99 ea after Matt Kramer reviewed the wine in his column. Has been getting rave reviews. Cuma means clean and pure in Aymara language. Wine is in the Cafayate area and the Aymara people lived in this area before the Incas. Great Malbec for the dollar with big round fruit and a lovely finish. Would compete with Malbecs twice it's price. Seek it out. Update 12/29: Just bought two more bottles and price …