Maryland Malbec

On Friday October 3, 2025, we did a vertical Maryland malbec tasting with food  pairings. It originates in France and still used there today but mostly for blending into its Bordeaux blends. The majority of single varietals are coming out of Argentina and South America. They are typically full of dark fruit flavors, lower acid with soft tannins. You may also get aromas of cocoa and tobacco. It is very commonly paired with a steak. There aren't a lot of wineries making single varietal malbec in Maryland but we got our hands on three bottles from wineries who are, Stone House Urban Winery, Big Cork Vineyards and Bordeleau Vineyard & Winery. The food we chose to pair for this tasting included flank steak with chimichurri, beef empanadas, mushroom and swiss sliders,  spaghetti squash "pasta" with sage and asiago, aged cheddar, guacamole, hummus,  peppers and carrots. We started with Stone House's malbec, which they cleverly call "Get Off Mal Back" and did our bottle review podcast on it. Check it out! It had strong aromas of toasted oak, along with black pepper, anise and clove. Black fruits like cherry and blackberry were on the palate and there was a lingering vanilla finish. Tannins, body and acid were all medium. It paired best with the sliders but also liked the steak, cheddar and spaghetti squash. Bordeleau's was next and was very fruit forward. There was a rose aroma along with cherry, pepper and vanilla. It's best food pairing was the empanadas but it also went with the spaghetti squash, steak, cheddar and hummus. Big Cork's was the only malbec that didn't have that signature dark, inky color. It was more of a medium ruby. We got rose and cinnamon on the nose and cherry cola on the palate. It was the most tannic and acidic of the three. It paired best with the steak but also liked the burgers, hummus  and asiago. This was a very enjoyable tasting digging into a grape you don't see a lot in Maryland. But some wineries are making it and doing a pretty great job.