organic Domaine Bousquet for Malbec Day paired with empanadas 

On April 17 in 1853, French soil expert Michel Aimé Pouget showed Argentineans how to adapt French varietals, including Malbec, to Argentina, so Wines of Argentina created Malbec World Day on April 17 to celebrate Malbec from Argentina and  “to position Argentine Malbec as one of the most prominent in the world.” While wine has been made in Argentina since the 1500s, you might be surprised to learn that today Argentina is one of the top five producing wine countries in the world — with Malbec taking the lead. In Argentina, almost 25% of vineyards are planted in Malbec (almost 116k acres of vineyards!). This is nearly 200% increase in 20 years. Nearly 45% of the red wine made in Argentina is Malbec meaning there’s a Malbec for every palate, budget, and event and most of it is grown sustainably.

Domaine Bousquet has taken a lead in sustainability in Argentina. They began their project growing organically 25 years ago,  and Domaine Bousquet earned the first Regenerative Organic Certification outside of the US (the fourth worldwide!) Here’s four wines from Domaine Bousquet that won’t break the bank or the planet.

Four Malbec from Domaine Bousquet

Four Malbec from Domaine Bousquet

• 2021 Domaine Bousquet “Virgen” Natural Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina $13
• 2022 Domaine Bousquet Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina $13
• 2022 Domaine Bousquet “Gaia” Malbec, Gualtallary, Argentina $20
• 2023 Domaine Bousquet “Reserve” Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina $18
• Sue Hill and I tasted in the above order using Cabernet Sauvignon Riedel red wine glasses, then we tasted them with the empanadas and the salad.

Menu for Malbec: Empanadas and Salad

• Argentinian empanadas: two kinds, beef and squash, homemade by Sue Hill
• Argentinian chimichurri sauce: home made by Sue with parsley, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, oil
• Strawberry and avocado green salad

More Malbec from Argentina with pairings!

• Celebrating Malbec: 3 from Argentina paired with blue cheese burgers 
• Mendoza Malbec Mundo: 2 Organic Malbec from Argentina
• From 2023 Malbec: A Kosher Malbec 
• For more Malbec from around the world with pairings scroll down.

2021 Domaine Bousquet “Virgen” Natural Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina

2021 Domaine Bousquet “Virgen” Natural Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina

ABV: 14%
SRP: $13
Grapes: Certified Organic Malbec; ROC; working on biodynamic certification
Importer: Origins Organic
sample for my review 

Sans sulfites! Fresh!

Appearance:  Dark and dense, ruby, fuschia rim, very bright and vibrant,

Aroma: Interesting nowe, ripe blueberry fruit, mud, picking blueberries in a muddy blueberry patch, wet earth, plum, herbal, mint,

Palate: Tart bluefruit, mulberry, blueberry, chalky tannins, grippy tannins, bright and tart instead of heavy and heady, cocoa nibs, dark chocolate, good acidity,

Pairing: Very surprising how well the salad works with the wine, it loves the fresh strawberry fruit and the creamy avocado richness, this salad works so well with this wine, we were so surprised by this pairing. There are a lot of complexity in the spices of the beef empanadas loves the wine and brings out the big blue fruit, the dry sage quality of the squash empanada is perfect with the wine, very nice with the complex spices in the empanadas,

2022 Domaine Bousquet Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina

ABV: 14%
SRP: $13
Grapes: Certified Organic Malbec; working on biodynamic certification
Importer: Origins Organic
sample for my review 

This wine is widely available and often on sale for around $10 a bottle. Twist off cap makes it great to take to a BBQ too!

Appearance:  Ruby, fuchsia rim, medium density,

Aroma: Ripe blueberry, ripe plum, mulberry, oxalis, grassy, mud, earthen, sage, old mown grass,

Palate: Tart blue fruit, clay, grassy, silty slickness, raspberry, dry tannins, no a lot of complexity, not a fruit bomb which is always nice, oxalis,

Pairing: The beef empanada smooths out all of the edges in the wine and brings out bright blue fruit, this is a party wine with a  party appetizer  they go together quite nicely, also quite lovely with the squash empanada loving the sage quality in the dish, the wine also loves the strawberry avocado salad, the rich citrus brightness of the salad was perfect with the wine. the wine got ten times better with the wine.

2022 Domaine Bousquet “Gaia” Malbec, Gualtallary, Argentina

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $20
Grapes: Certified Organic Malbec; working on biodynamic certification
Importer: Origins Organic
sample for my review 

Appearance:  Very dark and dense, ruby, fuchsia rim, very vibrant,

Aroma: Inviting and incising, you just want to dive and, fruit and spice, church spice, blue fruit, mulberry, sandalwood, amber,

Palate: Ripe fresh blueberry, eucalyptus, acidic and tannic, mint, lively and refreshing while big and bold at the same time, vanilla, blueberry creme brûlée,

Pairing: The salad was perfect with the wine tart bright strawberry creamy avocado and toasted almonds completely highlighted the complexity of the wine,  if you didn’t have fresh fruit this wine would handle dried fresh fruit with the avocado, with the squash empanada the herbal elements of the wine shine, there are such rich flavors in the beef empanadas pair perfectly with the wine, the wine does a great job of elevating and accentuating each of the elements in the dish. The wine and the beef empanadas were beautiful together.

2023 Domaine Bousquet “Reserve” Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina

2023 Domaine Bousquet “Reserve” Malbec, Tupangato, Argentina

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $18
Grapes: Certified Organic Malbec; working on biodynamic certification
Importer: Origins Organic
sample for my review 

Appearance:  Vibrant and bright, ruby, fuschia rim, medium density,

Aroma: Blueberry jam, sweet vanilla, mint, eucalyptus, earthen, chocolate,

Palate: Cassis, tart blue fruit, big bold grippy tannins,

Pairing: Very  very nice with the squash empanada bringing out bright tart fruit in the wine, even better with the beef empanada. The wine loved the rich spices in the dish, the wine and the meal really elevated each other. Also lovely with the strawberry avocado salad, the berry fruit brings out great fantastic berry fruit in the wine, the rich toasted nuts add an earthy quality, and the rich and creamy avocado adds a decadence this was a perfect pairing,

Last year we wrote about the 2020 Domaine Bousquet Ameri Organic Malbec, Gualtallary Single Vineyard which retails for $37. 

Appearance:  Ruby violet, fushia rim, looks unfiltered

Aroma: Blueberry, cherry, boysenberry, damp clay, muddy clay,

Palate: Rich juicy fruit, more acidity than tannins, yet has grippy tannins, clean finish, citrus oil, fairly simple finish,

Pairing: The wine brings out a peppery spice in the salami, would be great with a peppered steak, perfect with the sharp snowdonia cheese, the flavor of the leek mushroom jack has great flavors together but the wine leaves the cheese a bit gummy, the procuitto becomes salty and sweet at the same time when paired with this wine which we found very interesting, was not great with the Spanish or Basque cheese, so nice with the caramelized sweet earthy roasted root vegetables, perfect pairing with our pork medallions.