Drink This: Bedell Cellars 2020 Malbec
Drink This: Bedell Cellars 2020 Malbec
Malbecs like this are why the grape has become much more than a blender in the North Fork of Long Island AVA
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I’d have to dig through my collection of old tasting notebooks to be certain, but I think I began tasting varietal malbec bottlings from the North Fork of Long Island AVA starting with the 2005 vintage. Almost 20 years later, it’s a little surprising that there aren’t more available. But it’s also not.
Many Long Island vineyards have at least some planted, but most of it remains destined for Bordeaux-style blends rather than standalone bottlings. I’m not aware of any new, large-scale plantings of malbec — so it may just be that there isn’t enough being grown.
I still think that could change over the next 20 years.
I like to ask winemakers what grapes they’d choose if they had a new 10-acre vineyard to plant today. Winemakers can only work with what’s already being grown — most of those vines planted many years prior. Asking what they’d plant now tells me what they’d do differently today and in the future. It also tells me what grapes they are most excited about.
Chardonnay and merlot remain the most-planted grapes on Long Island, but winemakers rarely mention them.
Several have mentioned malbec over the years — including Rich Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Bedell Cellars. His current release, Bedell Cellars 2020 Malbec ($30*) certainly helps make the case for more malbec.
Ripe blueberry and plum fruit aromas are layered with delicate notes of spice and purple flowers on a fresh and subtlely complex nose.
Juicy and medium-light in body, the palate offers a core of concentrated dark fruits — both fresh blueberries and blueberry compote, plum, and fig — with sweet spices and just a hint of vanilla. The tannins are soft and supple, with well-balanced acidity providing backbone.
On days two and three open on the counter, it developed a bit more complexity, with more spice and a little earthiness and umami savoriness emerging.
Bedell Cellars 2020 Malbec
Region: North Fork of Long Island AVA (New York)
ABV: 12%
Rating: 91 pts
Price: $30* (Available Here)
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*sample provided by winery