2021 Mineral Wines Malbec – Think of a Campfire Dinner on the Argentine Plains
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Background
I have written several stories about Brett Keller, owner and winemaker of Mineral Wines and his delicious and award-winning wines when he was in Murphys, California. He has been relocating his winery and operation to Eagle, Idaho for the last couple of years. He is about to break ground shortly on his new facility and is very excited to continue to serve established customers who follow his wines in Calaveras County and beyond and introduce new customers in Idaho.
In a conversation with Brett one very interesting fact is that Idaho was declared the leading wine consuming state in the US by per capita by VinePair (https://vinepair.com/articles/map-states-drink-wine-america-2020/)
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
On the label is a watercolor of a mineral, which adorns each of his wines. Each wine is designated by a different mineral. This is an amethyst from the Jackson’s Crossroads Amethyst Mine in Wilkes County, Georgia painted by Fredrick Wilda.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This Malbec wine on the eyes was a deep and enticing almost blackish red in color with a medium-heavy viscosity. When opened aromas wafted from the bottle of black fruit and lavender. Once on the palate the flavor profile exploded with blackberries, coffee, dense succulent plums and black cherries. Sipping the wine provided sufficient tannins and finished with a slight smokiness along with blackberry jam and blueberry compote with an earthiness note. A beautiful wine. It was both fruit forward, with a rugged and delicious taste, like eating over a campfire in the high altitude Mendoza plain.
This wine had all the characteristics of elegance coupled with raw gutty chewiness. This wine will make my annual Best Wines Tasted for 2026. The wine came in at 14.7% alcohol and lists at $38/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Dinner with this wine was a special Carne Asada. The flank steak was tenderized and marinated 12 hours with the following ingredients: olive oil, soy sauce, fresh squeezed orange and lime juice, fresh chopped cilantro leaves, minced jalapeño peppers, minced garlic cloves, ground cumin, Kosher salt, ground black pepper. Flatiron peppers, Dark & Smokey blend, then added to the steak and seared on the BBQ with an infrared ceramic burner at 1500 degrees for about 8minutes a side. Served with minced cilantro, fresh extra marinade sauce and a modicum of fresh squeezed lime juice. Accompanying the meal were roasted jalapeno pepper, Spanish rice and broccoli.
The Carne Asada was flavorful and just a little spicy. The Malbec with its fruit surrounded the spicy meat with each succulent bite. Perhaps one of the best food and wine pairings.
This Malbec blend with its fruit surrounded the spicy meat and cooled it off to be absolutely a wonderful pairing with the Malbec component matched beautifully with the meat protein.
The Winery
Photo ©Michael Kelly
While still having some varieties of grapes from the Sierra foothills, he has begun making Idaho based wines, specifically Malbec and Syrah. In 2022 he made a Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Meritage blend all from the Snake River Valley. The most recent vintage is his 2023 Syrah and a Merlot from a local vineyard just outside of Eagle, Idaho. On their 10-acre estate in Eagle, they have completed their plans for the winery and are currently heading to permit it to start construction in early Spring.
We wish Brett and his family continued success with new vintages going forward.
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly