Reviews & Ratings

2006 Reininger Malbec "Pepper Bridge Vineyard"

Winery: Reininger

Vintage: 2006

Wine Name/Vineyard: "Pepper Bridge Vineyard"

Wine Category: Malbec

Grape blend: 100% Malbec

Bottle size: 750 ml

Region: Walla Walla Valley

State or country: WA

Price: $45

Cases produced: 190

KWG Score: 92.2 (based on 4 reviews)

Ken's Wine Rating: Very Good+ (93)

Review date: February 14, 2011

Wine Review: I think Chuck Reininger is onto something here. This Malbec from Washington State is fantastic. Perhaps Malbec from Washington will emerge as a thriving grape someday. This particular wine is opaque and almost black in color. It opens with a fragrant blackberry and black raspberry bouquet. On the palate, this wine is full bodied, super silky and very well balanced. The flavor profile is a delicious blackberry and black licorice blend with notes of black pepper nicely integrated. We also detected a hint of blueberry as well. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins are fine and show nice length. Everyone at our table at Grill 23 loved this wine. It would pair perfectly with a filet. Enjoy - Ken

Winemaker Notes: Scruffy, bearded 007 in a tux; refined yet rustic. Appropriate for the most elegant cuisine (or it's the tantalizing bad boy at a rowdy, spicy barbeque!). A stunningly bright, dark purple hue pronounces the vibrant beauty of its character. Well developed fruit that flexes blackberry and plum while rolling in the dirt with coffee and vanilla laced with just a hint of anise and white pepper. This gaucho has the palate weight and the firm tight tannins to back it up. - Chuck Reininger, Winema

Buy it: Use 1000 Corks to find stores that sell Reininger 2006 Malbec.