A Canadian friend of mine told me about a Malbec tasting he went to. It sounded so good I asked him to write a piece on it. I’m not sure if any of the wine was under $20 and I’m quite certain he isn’t over 50, but here it is. Thank you Jeff.

These are the things I know with absolutely certainty about Argentinians. They produce brilliant Malbec (we’ll circle back to this in a sec), heroic footballers and despite her pitch perfect protests, they’re inclined to get a touch misty-eyed when reminiscing about Eva Perón.

Now about Messi. Wait. No, Malbec. The 12^thmost widely grown grape in France, where it originated, I believe, I haven’t really fact-checked this, probably worth a Google (it did, and is the dominant grape of Cahors) if the history of grapes is even minimally important to you, Malbec has found its true home just east of the Andes in Mendoza, Argentina.

I recently had the good fortune to visit some of Mendoza’s most exceptional wineries’…tasting booths in Sydney at the annual Gauchito Gil Day hosted at the Carriage Works.

We probably sniffed, sipped and swished 40+ wines – more than any serious oenophile would recommend in one 4-hour window but what felt like the perfect number at the time.

Heading over to the festival, I was on the lookout for big, bold reds. The Argentinians are more than a little famous for their mastery of grilled meats and I wanted a Mendozian red packing more weight than Maradona over Christmas.

But guess what? In a profoundly unremarkable moment of self-discovery, I learned something that Sunday. My favourite Malbecs weren’t gigantic. Yes, they were full-bodied but were definitely closer to a Bordeaux than a Barossa Shiraz.

Here were three that made me want to pack up my tango shoes and move to BA.

2012 Aluvión Malbec Reserva  The winery was started in 2007 by two couples that fell in love with Argentina while travelling and decided to start making Malbec. I was really impressed by the quality of wine they’re producing, being a relatively new label. I did see that they have Santiago Achával of Achaval-Ferrer as a consulting winemaker. That certainly wouldn’t hurt.

2014 Abremundos Octava Bassa Roseview imports had some great offerings including some beautiful wines from Luigi Bosca but my favourite was undoubtedly the Octava Bassa from Abremundos. I didn’t end up buying any of these and it has been gnawing at me relentlessly ever since.

2013 Zuccardi José Zuccardi Honestly, Zuccardi had three or four wines that I would have loved to have brought home with me but my fave would have to be the father José’s traditional style Malbec. All kinds of wonderful. The Zuccardi Aluvional Altamira was pretty spectacular, too.

Thank you Jeff. I wish I had been there and forgive me for deleting the empanadas. Dan Murphy stocks a few Zuccardi Malbecs, not sure if they have the Jose Z. They do have a number that score 90+ and a few that cost well over $20. I might give thisone a go, for just $17.