Deep ruby color; cherry, strawberry, plum, cooking spice on the nose; plum, black cherry, blackberry, raspberry jam, herbs, mocha, oak on the palate.
Dry; subtle tannins with good balancing acidity. Medium body. Creamy in the mouth. Fruit forward. Good structure. Soft, polished, clean easy drinker. Pure malbec play. Grapes de-stemmed and crushed. Maceration—exposing the juice to the skins and stems to extract phenolics (tannins, color, flavor precursors, glycosides) prior to fermentation. Fermented 20 days in temperature-controlled stainless steel. Natural malolactic fermentation. 20% of the wine aged in French and American oak for six months. 13.5% ABV
Established in 1996 by the Chilean wine giant Concha y Toro, Trivento is one of Argentina’s larger and most-respected estates. Mendoza is the country’s premier wine regions. Trivento’s name means “Three Winds”—it is a reference to the three winds (Polar, Zonda, Sudestada) that sweep through Mendoza and are a distinguishing feature of the region’s climate and environment.
Trivento is part of Excelsior Wine Estates, a sales and marketing partnership of Banfi Vintners and Concha y Toro to sell in the U.S. market. Excelsior is the exclusive distributor of the Chilean wines of Concha y Toro, Trivento, and the California wines Little Black Dress and Five Rivers. So, this is an excellent effort from a major player in the wine world, and—as Argentine malbecs are inclined to be—an outstanding bargain.
The website notes their prominent position: “We have forged an exclusive portfolio of wines that preserve the character of Mendoza’s terroirs and defy the moods of the winds. The continuous investment and research in technologies, infrastructure and know-how, positions us among the main exporters of bottled wine in the country and as the best-selling Argentine wine brand in Europe. The company’s human rights, environment, and quality and safety policies are supported by its 420 employees and the millions of consumers around the world who choose it.”
Trivento Reserve Malbec, Mendoza 2019 is superb entry-level pour, and “entry level” refers in this case only to price not quality. This is a delicious, smooth, fun, larruping good expression of Argentina’s signature grape. Trivento makes a whopping 18 million bottles of this and ships more than 600,000 come to the U.S., so not only is this great QPR (quality-price ratio) wine, it is widely available. Pair lighter beef cuts; lamb; poultry; pork; pizza; comfort food—meatloaf, burgers, sliders; asiago, muenster, gouda, brie, gorgonzola, camembert cheese. $10-12
