Vinalba Wine Dinner at Cafe Maxx with Herve and Diane Fabre

Monday, November 2, 2015 - 07:00 PM

This Event has been read: 2168 times.

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“The best wine comes from home, wherever it is.”
-Kirk Douglas, in the film "Spartacus"


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It is hard to believe that it was only a few short years ago that the first varietally labeled Malbec was produced in Argentina.  It took a Frenchman from Bordeaux to see the potential of this varietal and in 1992 this producer was the first to put Malbec on a label of wine from Argentina.

We just visited Diane Fabre and this is our first stop on our Mendoza tour this summer with the kids.  Their first vineyard visit was to the old vines planted in 1908.  Here are the kids at this epic Malbec vineyard.

So after our visit I told Diane that we would be glad to host a dinner with them at Cafe Maxx when they visited South Florida to introduce our "Wine Drinking People" to the couple that brought Malbec from Argentina to the rest of the world.  Chef OIiver Saucy will be making a special five course menu to compliment the tasting wines, the fee for this event is $75 + tax + gratuity.

 

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Vinalba Wine Dinner at Cafe Maxx with Herve and Diane Fabre
Monday, November 2, 2015
7:00 PM

 

Pass arounds

Fuji apple and lump crab filo purses

Asian seared yellowfin tuna

Beef tenderloin tartare

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2013 Vinalba Chardonnay
NA

 An inviting golden color, this Chardonnay is ripe and soft, with yellow apple, tangerine and pineapple fruit. The palate is refreshing and mellow, with a round, lightly nutty finish.

 

First course

Pasillia pepper braised pork and beef empanada with dried fruit and Romesco sauce

 

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2013 Vinalba Malbec Reserva Mendoza
Price: $15.75       Sale $13.86          Case $161

A good amount of blackberry and blueberry fruit on the nose with fresh plowed black earth and tea like aromas. Dark berry fruit on the tongue with good richness, a good amount of tannins here with a bit of dryness at the end, but nicely balanced. Finish 40+ Very Good

 

Second course

Beef tenderloin tartare, blueberry gastrique, sundried fruit, raisin crostini, crumbled feta, basil and arugula

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2013 Vinalba Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Mendoza
Price: $15.75       Sale $13.86          Case $161

A good amount of dark berry fruit, sweet tobacco spice and sweet herbs. Thick and chewy dark berry fruit on the tongue, smooth round tannins with a nice tobacco spice on the finish Very Good

Third course

Grill braised short rib of beef in flour tortilla, black bean sauce, roasted corn and jack cheese

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2013 Vinalba Malbec Cabernet Sauvignon Mendoza
Price: $15.75       Sale $13.86          Case $161

This wine is a 50/50 blend with a good amount of black currant, fresh black earth and dark spices, but not peppery this wine has a good amount of sweet currant berry fruit, blackberry and pretty violet floral notes at the end. Finish 40+. Deep and rich fruit here and even better on the second day. Very Good +

2013 Vinalba Malbec and Cabernet Franc Reserva Mendoza
Price: $15.75       Sale $13.86          Case $161

A blend of 80/20 Malbec Cabernet Franc this wine has a big bouquet of dark berry fruit, fresh earth, dark tobacco and peppery spice. A big and fruity wine on the tongue with lots of dark berry fruit and a nice amount of that peppery spice on the finish. Finish 40+ Very Good +

2012 Vinalba Malbec Gran Reserva Mendoza
Price: $24.75       Sale $13.86          Case $161

A selection of older vines and this wine, this wine has a beautiful bouquet fresh plowed black earth, black and blueberry fruit, dark chocolate and tobacco spice notes, nice complexity on the nose even better on the second day. This wine has a bigger finish with more fruit, lots of dark coco like spice and earth at the end. Finish 45+ Excellent

 

Fourth course

Peppercorn grilled NY Strip, black berry roasted beets Mascarpone new potatoes, smoked cherry demi glace

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2011 Fabre Montmayour Grand Vin Mendoza
Price: $39.75       Sale $34.98          Case $406
Quantity in Stock: 71

A blend of Mostly Malbec with a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from vineyards planted in 1908 in both Vistalba and Lujan de Cuyo.  A very deep dark colored wine with blackberry, black raspberry fruit and cassis like fruit with a full complement of black licorice, sweet tobacco, bittersweet chocolate, espresso and more, a very complex bouquet of aromas.  Dark and rich berry fruit on the tongue with a firm hand of acidity and quite large in size but has wonderful freshness with layers of dark spices, espresso, violet and a long layered finish, this wine needs time but has everything in the right proportion.  If you like big and fruit driven wines these wines are hard to compare to wines at this price point.  Finish 50+  Most Excellent

Dessert

Chocolate crème brulee

The fee for this dinner is $75 + tax + gratuity, for reservations call 954-782-0606.

 

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Hervé Joyaux Fabre, owner and director of Fabre Montmayou, was born in Bordeaux, France, to a family of wine negociants.  When he arrived in Argentina in the early 90’s looking for opportunities to invest in vineyards and start a winery, he was impressed by the potential for Malbec in Mendoza.  As a true visionary, he bought very old Malbec vineyards, planted in 1908, and built the Fabre Montmayou winery in the purest Chateau Style from Bordeaux.

 His passion and “savoir faire” did the rest, enabling him to begin producing exceptional wines that have achieved international acclaim and are enjoyed in over twenty countries.  First varietal Malbec to be bottled and they are the first foreigners to invest in Mendoza, they moved in 1990 and bought the first vineyard planted in 1908.  The 1992 was the first varietal Malbec made in Argentina and it was this family that released it under their Favre Montmayou label.  They are located in Vista Alba in Lujan De Cujo, 18 miles south of Mendoza City and the couple is originally from Bordeaux, Diane & Hervé Joyaux Fabre and I met them at Vin Expo ten years ago when they were just getting things started here in the US in terms of exporting their wines.

For the Fabre Montmayou line of wines, the owners decided to buy exclusively old-vine vineyards in the best wine growing areas of Mendoza.  Grapes arrive at the winery in 40 lbs. trays and the clusters are carefully hand sorted prior to the destemming.  There is a second hand sorting table for individual berries as they come out of the destemmer to ensure that only the very highest quality grapes go into Fabre Montmayou wines.

 Fermentation is carried out by native yeasts at a controlled temperature with four pump-overs per day.  Extended maceration (skin contact) allows for greater extraction of tannins, which will add structure to the finished wine before barrel aging begins.  With constant care and personal style – essential elements for great quality – Fabre Montmayou combines modern winemaking, Mendoza’s terroir and the Bordeaux “savoir faire” to produce wines of unique personality.

 Herve came in 1991 and went to Chile first because their wines were better known but after visiting Mendoza he recognized the potential here and although there was not as much export here as Chile.  He liked the Malbec better than that of Cahors, which is Malbec also however it was a bit rougher than the Malbec that was now in Mendoza which came over with the immigrants 100 years ago.  Over that time it has adapted to the environment and the Malbec of Mendoza today likes sun and dryness, it is unparalleled in quality and Herve was one of the first to recognize this and to buy only old vines Malbec vineyards was considered crazy since most of the farmers were going for quantity not quality.  At that time there was not a huge production of varietal wines they used Malbec to blend but Herve saw the potential for this as a single varietal and bought 18 hectares of 100 year old vines and in 1993 bottled was the first varietal as a high level Malbec as a vintage wine they built a winery before that all the big wineries were all far from the vineyards.  They were really pioneers at that time no one wanted old vines and no one wanted Malbec.  They thought the crazy French gaucho was thought to be foolish with his investments.

They have expanded to 90 hectares of vines today Chardonnay Torrentez and in 1996 they bought a winery in Patagonia.  They offer Malbec 1200 kilometers away 1100 meters high most wineries. They Use drip irrigation in the old vineyards the have water rights to get water from the mountains they give you water twice a week and it depends how big your vineyards are, they would be a dessert if they did not have water the 3rd driest acres on earth.  The water has nutrients because of the sediment from the mountains they are sustainable.  They use nets for hail which by the way is excluded from your insurance agreement for rental cars.  They hand harvest for all their wines, the oldest vines go into the grand vin.