The Whites of Their Vines

In which I taste through a whole bunch of "White Malbec" wines, a current fad here in Argentina.

This is not “White Zin”. We’re not talking sweet, often fizzy, pink wines. This is more like the “Blanc de Noirs” of French tradition - white wines made from red grapes. They first appeared here in Argentina back in 2011, produced by Vicentin Family Wines in Mendoza.

They often had a tinge of color to them as the wines were simply pressed carefully to avoid getting too much color from the skins. Most red wine grapes are red on the outside, the skin, but inside are pretty much the same color as a white or green grape. Some have a bit of a pinkish color to them.

A few years later Trivento wines added some high tech processing using oxygen after the fermentation process - somewhat like the laundry detergents that promise to oxygenate the color out of stains. In this case, it helps remove the vestiges of pink or red color in the wine, leaving a near crystalline clear wine.

The hallmarks of a red Malbec’s profile tend to be plum, black cherry, and blackberry. My sense after tasting through these white versions is that because of the higher acidity and lack of tannin, those same aromas come through more as peach or apricot, red cherry, and raspberry. They’re the same esters, but the psychology of the color and physiology of acid, change our perception. Even the darker floral aromas of violets morph into something lighter in the flowering world.

There aren’t a huge number of White Malbecs on the market, but here and there a new one pops up, and I thought it would be fun to taste my way through what I could find (eleven of them). One oddity - perhaps just because many of these are sort of experiments, but most of the wineries don’t even list these on their websites or other social media.

Andeluna Blanc de Malbec Edición limitada, 2024, Valle de Uco, Mendoza

Manually harvested grapes from vineyards at 1200 meters, almost 4000 feet, altitude. “Free-run juice” processing - minimal pressure applied, just enough to burst the grapes, and then they’re left to drip their juice out rather than using a press to get more out. This helps avoid getting any color from the skins. Cold fermented in stainless steel tanks for 25 days. Pale gold. Intense apricot, pineapple, raw almond, hint of floral notes. Fruit forward, dry, high acidity, light bodied, medium length finish. Locally runs between 8000-9500 pesos a bottle. Recommended.

Alfredo Roca “Alma Inquieta” White Malbec 2024, San Rafael, Mendoza

A more than a century-old, family-owned winery. Mechanized harvesting, minimal pressing, 10 day cold fermentation. Light gold color, just a hint of bubbles. Pear, peach, strawberry, and warm spices on the nose. Slightly off-dry, fruit forward, again a hint of fizz to it, light to medium bodied, fairly high acidity, long finish. Runs around 14000 pesos. I found the fizz a bit off-putting, and while it’s not a bad wine, it’s not one I’d recommend.

Finca Sophenia “Karma” Blanc de Malbec 2024, Gualtalalry, Uco Valley, Mendoza

No details on the harvest or fermentation on Finca Sophenia’s website, nor elsewhere that I could find. I do find myself puzzled at the choice of German artist Albrecht Durer’s 1504 Adam and Eve engraving (and then colorized) to illustrate karma - an odd religious mix of Judeo-Christian iconography with a Hindu-Buddhist tenet. But, no matter, on to the wine.

Pale rose gold. Muted nose with mineral notes and a touch of something like a floral tea, maybe chamomile. Dry, high acidity, fruit forward (white peach, hint of plum), medium bodied, long finish. It’s a quite nice wine. I’m not sure I’d give it the 94 points that James Suckling did, but perhaps something in the mid to high 80s. Were I into points like that. Recommended. 13000 pesos.

Dadá de Finca Las Moras #391 Art White Malbec 2024, Argentina

Pale straw color. Nose seems... dusty, and shows little, maybe a hint of honeysuckle. On the palate, slightly off-dry, fruit forward, intense, apricot and rhubarb, quite high acidity, light bodied, short finish. Not well balanced. Not recommended, a shame, as I usually like Finca Las Moras’ wines. 6600 pesos.

Trivento White Malbec Reserve 2024, Mendoza (blend from Valle de Uco and Luján de Cujo)

Let’s start with the claim of being “The First White Malbec”. This is one of those things that’s true to the letter, but not really the spirit. It’s the first wine to be labeled White Malbec, because wines made by other wineries years prior to Trivento’s entry in the category were labeled Blanc or Blanco de Malbec, the French or Spanish way of saying the same thing. One might also say that in color, it’s the whitest, or at least clearest of them all - as I mentioned earlier, Trivento uses an oxygen treatment, basically, I guess, a chlorine free bleach, to strip out the color (all I can think of is something like OxiClean™. It’s worth noting - I was chatting with a sommelier friend about this wine, and she noted that when Trivento first released it five years ago in 2019, it still had some color to it, and her recollection was more flavor - she now finds it to be a pale imitation (in both color and flavor) of their earlier release, before they got the oxygen process down pat. It kind of makes sense - if you’re stripping out color molecules, you’re probably stripping out some flavor ones too.

Absolutely crystal clear. On the nose, under-ripe peach, cherry, and dry stone. Dry, fruit forward, high acidity, light bodied, short finish. Meh. 8800 pesos.

Salentein Wines “Killka” Malbec Blanco 2024, Valle de Uco, Mendoza

In terms of the making of the wine, all I could find was a note on a Brazilian website that it is matured for five months in stainless steel tank before being bottled. Pale gold. Green apple, white peach, green almond, wet stone. Dry, high acidity, light bodied, slightly hot, medium length finish. Good, but nothing special. 9200 pesos.

Colosso Wines “Indomable” Blanc de Malbec 2023, Mendoza

This is the original Blanc de Malbec from Vicentin Family Wines that was introduced back in 2011. Colosso was started as Vicentin’s high end line of wines around the same time, and as the quality of their white Malbec improved, they spun it off into that line. A blend of grapes from Valle de Uco, Chacayes, and Luján de Cuyo, cold pressed, left to sit for three days before introducing yeast, then cold fermented in stainless steel tanks for 25 days. Light rose-gold. Papaya, grapefruit, green bell pepper, wet stone. I would never pick this in the same category tasted blind - it’s far more like a Sauvignon blanc. Dry, fruit forward, high acidity, medium bodied, a touch hot with a long, peppery finish. Recommended.

Viña Las Perdices “Logia” Blanc de Malbec 2022, Mendoza

Early harvest, carefully pressed, cold fermentation. Light gold color. Apricot, raspberry, green tobacco leaf, lightly floral. Dry, fruit forward, fairly high acidity, medium bodied, long finish. Highly recommended.

Omega White Malbec 2023, Gualtallry, Valle de Uco, Mendoza

Omega is a created label under a company called Crowdfarming. If I understand it correctly, the company basically offers vanity brands - you pay a fee, you work with their experts, they take care of everything from sourcing the grapes to the winemaking and bottling, to design, marketing, and all the legal paperwork. So I don’t know who’s behind Omega itself. And I know little about the winemaking - I couldn’t get any answers out of Crowdfarming, though they very generously sent me two bottles as samples. The technical sheet lets me know the grapes were manually harvested, and that’s about it. What I do know, is that for a white Malbec, it’s really pricey - direct from Crowdfarming it runs 81,000 pesos, and then from the only online store I could find offering it, VitVin, it’s up to 90,000 (though discounted to the same 81,000 if paid with a bank transfer rather than credit card).

The wine itself is very good. It’s got a light rose gold color. On the nose, peaches, cherries, and a touch of jasmine tea. It’s fruit forward, dry, fairly high acidity, medium bodied, and has a long finish. Definitely recommended, just not sure it’s worth the vanity pricing.

Callejón de las Brujas Blanco de Malbec 2020, Lunlunta, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza

Produced by Bodega Cielo y Tierra, cold fermented in stainless steel tanks for five days, then put through malolactic fermentation before filtering and bottling. Light gold color. Apricot, raspberry, wildflowers, almonds. Dry, fairly high acidity, medium bodied, fruit forward, long finish. Beautiful wine. Highly recommended. 15200 pesos, though I found it discounted at several places for about 30-40% off - perhaps to sell out and move on to a new vintage?

Penedo Borges Blanc de Malbec 2023, Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza

Free-run juice, cold fermented. Pale straw color. White currants, hint of cherry, peach skin, floral. Dry, fruit forward, high acidity, light to medium bodied, a touch hot, particularly on the medium length finish. Priced at various locations around the city from 14,000 to 22,000 pesos, a rather wide spread - perhaps different vintages. Good, but the alcohol throws it a little out of balance.

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My top 3?

1. Viña Las Perdices “Logia” Blanc de Malbec 2022

2. Callejón de las Brujas Blanco de Malbec 2020

3. Omega White Malbec 2023

I would note that with the price on the Omega, and the difficulty of obtaining it, I’d offer a close 4th place, the Finca Sophenia “Karma” Blanc de Malbec 2024.