Going to a party and can’t decide how much to spend and not buy some junk wine that was a waste of money and made you the indirect voice of ridicule as the tasters made their statements regarding your choice? Well there is another wine to add to the list. Reasonably priced, decent tasting. The Ravenswood line is alright.
This family of fine wine is named after the matriarch who came from Italy, Elena Napoli.
Bodega ELENA de Mendoza Argentina
2010 RED BLEND
62% Malbec 21% Syrah 17% Bonarda
This family has developed some of my top wines from Argentina. The Malbec and the Red Blend from Bodega Elena de Mendoza are my favorites.
According to wikipedia, the “legs” or “tears” of wine that run down the inside of the wine glass are a sign of low alcohol. The heavier the legs, the lower the alcoholic content of the wine. If this is in fact true, then these wines are low in alcohol and big in flavor.
This Red Blend, like it’s sister Malbec, are loaded with solid flavors. Not too sweet.
Not too dry, but just right. These wines will slowly undress for your tongue, landing softly, pleasure your taste buds and leave you wanting another sip.
Priced under $10.
This tasty limited edition Malbec was also grown and bottled in the Mendoza region of Argentina.
Imported by WX Imports, Novato, CA
www.espueladelgaucho.com
Another fine Malbec that is now on my Top 5 Malbec list. Not as good as my favorite, Bodega de ELENA, but gets close. This wine is a 2012, so maybe it needs a year, but still was a very good selection.
The Espuela del Gaucho has unique, slow running, heavy legs. It carries a lighter body, landing gently on the tongue, joyfully leaving hints of mixed berries grown in the fresh Andes air and then drifts away.
Another quality Malbec, that any California cab or Merlot drinker would enjoy for under $12.
Another fine wine from the Mendoza region nestled in Argentina.
TERRAZAS de los Andes Reserva Malbec 2010
Produced and bottled by Terrazas de los Andes, Argentina
Selected grapes of the Mendoza region terraces, found a little more than 1,000 meters above sea level, make their way into this wine. The selectivity of this wine is probably why it is imported by the Moet Hennessy company.
Personally, this wine is almost as good as my still favorite Malbec, Bodega de ELENA. The Terrazas is kind of similar to the Elena, but I found it to be a touch lighter in body and flavor when landing on the tongue. The Terrazas is flowery and fruity. Perhaps the Terrazas could be imagined as a merlot version of the Elena if it were imagined as a cabernet of the same vinter.
The Terrazas is a good wine, reasonably priced and will be gone before the bottles of Mondavi that other people brought to the party.
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Vinted and bottled by Red Rock winery Healdsburg, CA
1.888.271-9463
This Malbec is grown here in California, not Argentina.
The flavor of this reserve wine lacks the depth of the Bodega de ELENA Malbec, which is my current favorite. It is not a bad wine, but if looking for a reasonably priced California red, I’d go Murphy-Goode Cabernet.
Product of Argentina.
Imported by WX Imports, Novato , CA
www.espueladelguacho.com
This low priced gaucho Malbec tastes more like the boot sweat of a gaucho.
I may have gotten a bad bottle, but this was my least favorite of
the bottles tasted by the Dude of Food.
Murphy-Goode Winery Santa Rosa, CA 
MURPHYGOODE.COM
This wine posses a heavy thick leg but lands on the taste buds
gracefully, reminding the senses of a bouquet of sweet berry flavors.
The flavor doesn’t linger long on the red carpet, before it melts away,
providing opportunity for another pleasurable taste.
For under $13. this is a pretty good wine, not so much over $15. as
you have entered a region of price where premiere tastes become more
pronounced.
Murphy-Goode cab is not a bad wine, but if you like a heavier full
flavored red wine, then the Bodega ELENA de Mendoza offers a bit more
bang for a little less bucks.
This product of Spain is a tasty red table wine. 
Las Rocas USA in Hayward, CA.
This is a lighter wine than the Malbec’s and Cabernet’s.
The wine has thin streaky legs. The taste immediately
reveals sweet berries and then lightly tapers with a fume
of apricot and pear. Not heavy. Not too sweet.
Great for day sipping, happy hour or with meals. This
wine would go well with a meat, cheese and olive platter
as well as your favorite steak salad.
If you pay more than 10. it’s not a good deal. It is not the
average bottle, so be a unique wine buyer and try this.
Bodega ELENA de Mendoza 2011
Vinted and bottled by B.E.D.M. Wines
Imported by Wine Brokers Unlimited, Hayward, CA
Product of Argentina
This is the Dudes favorite Malbec yet tasted! This is the first of the bottles
that I have opened that came with a real cork. Good 1st impression. Upon
tasting this wine, I was immediately aware that the taste game had changed.
The bar had been raised. This was serious wine.
The full bodied wine smoothly drifts over your taste buds, dangling flavors of
blackberries and plums, leaving a rejoicing smile and desire for more.
There was no crazy tinny aftertaste. This was immediately my new favorite Malbec.
If it is a dollar more than the other Malbec’s in this price range, pay it!
Get this Malbec!
(side note) April 2013 issue of Bon Appetite magazine includes McCormick
gourmet selection recommending this wine also.
Grown in Mendoza, Argentina.
Imported by Cupcake Vineyards, Livermore, CA
Grown at 2,400 feet under the shadow of the snow covered Andes mountains,
this Mendoza region wine is more talk than action. The flavors mentioned on
the back of the label mention flavors of plums, raspberries and a dark chocolate
flour less cupcake. Really?
Priced in the reasonable to cheap category, but you get what you pay for in this case.
Prefer the Sensual or Robert Mondavi over this Cupcake.