A "Bang-For-The-Buck" Malbec

When you have a Napa Valley based publication reviewing several wines mostly from California and then you find a lonely argentinian malbec in the whole list, you know you are onto something. But when this malbec merits a "Best Bang For Your Buck" you know you have just struck gold:

Layer Cake 2007 Mendoza Malbec $15

All malbec from the rocky terrain of this South American country noted for this Bordeaux blending varietal, it’s a smooth, lush wine that belies its 14.9 percent alcohol. Harvested late, the ripe fruit for this accessible red offers exotic berry perfume along with a mouthful of cherries, blackberries and plums. The first malbec release from Layer Cake, it’s a wine for the bigger flavors on the Thanksgiving table as well as one that red wine fanciers would gladly quaff on its own. Of all the wines, tasters said this one offered the most bang for the buck. Production is 15,000 cases, so I’m sure there’s enough out there for all of us.

The good thing about this wine is that you'll find it pretty much everywhere.
The concept behind Layer Cake represents the different layers of wine and the image of a handcrafted product. Winemaker Jayson Woodbridge named Layer Cake as his grandfather told him that the soils in which the vines lived were a layer cake. If properly made, the wine from these vines was like a delicious cake. The fruit for Layer Cake Malbec comes from a vineyard that is flanking the Mendoza River in Argentina.