My second installment of Wine Shop Wander Wednesday was a bit of a departure.  I was able to find two wines that caught my attention.  One was from Long Island, the other, this one is from Argentina, San Martin, Mendoza Province.  This Yellow + Blue 2007 Malbec is an interesting find for a number of reasons, the first being it is 100% organic and the other it is in a box.  The packaging caught my attention.  It is in a box, which you can see from the picture.  It kinda reminded me of a box of chicken stock or better yet the old parmalat milk box.  There is a white plastic twist off top. Note: I will publish the Long Island Wine I tasted once I have more information on the wine.

First a little history about Yellow + Blue, from their website.  They are 100% certified organic estate grown fruit.  They do every thing by hand.  They are also interested in removing as much of their carbon footprint as possible.  That further explains their packaging.  The box is a Tetra Pac, there is six layers of paper board, aluminum foil and plastic that bind together to protect the wine from air and light.  Another thing, Yellow + Blue get their name from what Yellow + Blue equal, Green, which is what they are all about.

According to Yellow+Blue, the packaging is useful and positive not only for removing their carbon footprint but it helps in their transportation on their wine.  In all cases of wine, there is  a 50/50 split between wine and packaging.  A case of wine weights about 40 pounds and hold 9 liters of wine.  Now a case of Yellow + Blue weighs 26 pounds and hold 12 liters of wine.  That’s 95% wine and 5 % packaging.

Enough about their packaging and what they are about, you can read more on their web site (I don’t want to become repetitive).  On to the tasting.  Upon twisting the cap and the first pour, there were wonderful aromas of prune, plum, cherry, some spice and leather I got a little toffee on the nose.  On the palate it was tannic and there was way too much alcohol.  I did not get any fruit.  This, of course was do to the wine not open long enough to aerate.

About an hour later, there were more of the same aromas, but then the fruit started to show.  The tannins were much softer, there were some ripe berry and some grilled fig with nice plum flavors.  This finish was nice, with a medium bodied feel.  There was a nice spice finish that lingered and was very pleasant.

I had this wine with a grilled skirt steak and a spinach salad.  It went perfectly.  There was such a compliment and balance between the wine and meal.  Following the dinner, the wine was still getting better.

This is 100% Malbec grape.  They are hand harvested.  A 12 hour maceration is performed before fermentation.  The wine is fermented in a temperature controlled tank with indigenous yeast.  Additional settling and aging is done in tank and it is filtered, slightly, before they bottle.  It does not mention if this wine was in an oak barrel, so I assume no.

According to wine writer Tyler Coleman, aka Dr. Vino, ““Unlike most box wines that have little to distinguish them other than the packaging, this wine has good poise and intensity with berry, plum and herbal freshness. Because it’s a third more than a regular bottle, this is a crazy-good value.”

The only down fall to the tasting was my toung  getting a bit numb.  But I would recommend this Malbec to anyone new or old to malbec.  I love a good malbec and this is a good malbec, not only because of the price ($13.95 at wine shop).  There is no romance in this “bottle”, no sexiness either, but it has lots of flavor and a nice personality.   I would consider bringing this to my friends house for dinner and watching their reaction.  Yellow + Blue = Green for 2 reasons, one for the environment and the other because you will see more in your pocket.